<p>According to college board website, 99% of students do not report their race/ethnicity. Can someone familiar with the school give me an idea of the breakdown?</p>
<p>Hillsdale doesn't keep track--in fact, they don't even have a field on their application to list ethnicity, as all students are admitted purely based on merit.</p>
<p>Of course there are many minority students at Hillsdale College. Certainly, there are not huge numbers of minorities, but you will see faces of every race. This fall, I believe there are five students from China coming to Hillsdale, there are several Hispanic kids, you name it. But coco is right, it has been their policy to admit purely on the basis of academics.</p>
<p>African-Americans in particular have, for a long time, found Hillsdale to be a colorblind sanctum. They were especially present in the 70s when many of them set athletic records at the college, and, upon some yearbook research, some even banded together to form the “Black House”. Whether that was a clique or an actual club is beyond me. There is still a considerable number of minorities attending.</p>
<p>Hillsdale College is ruled by merit, not affirmative action giveaways to people that want something for nothing.</p>
<p>Because Hillsdale does not accept federal monies in any form, they are not required to submit racial statistics to the government.</p>
<p>in my experience being around campus, there is a very small minority presence. i have a lot of friends that go there, and they said that there is probably one or two african americans they know of that arent athletes, and there arent many athletes either. out of the schools i visited or have been to, hillsdale easily has the smallest minority presence.</p>
<p>@cross
I figured that when I was applying to undergraduate schools. Coincidentally, that ended up being one of the most motivating factors that led to me choosing <em>not</em> to apply there.</p>
<p>@zanger
Woah now, someone’s a little hostile perhaps?</p>
<p>When it comes to racial makeup, think of many strongly conservative-leaning, professional suburban communities or rural Midwestern towns, i.e. predominately white. For example, when I was a student at Hillsdale (graduated '02), there were probably about 10 African-American students, the majority of which were on the basketball team. If I had to guess, I would say the student body was about 85% to 90% white. Diversity is equally lacking in the surrounding area. According to the 2000 census, Hillsdale County is almost 98% white.</p>
<p>I consider it a very shameful thing that this subject even has to be discussed. Hillsdale and the concept behind it are exactly what BrotherAtticus said: a “color blind sanctum.” </p>
<p>@ hellodocks: We cant really judge the color of your skin (isn’t internet beautiful??? truly a color blind place !!!) I hope you enjoy your time at “highly diversified” NYU. However, if you are a member of any minority group (I truly despise grouping and classifying people), the next time you look at a white guy/girl next to you, remember that there is a good chance you are not as smart/meritorious as he and she. Otherwise, If you are white, remember that the black guy next to you may not be as smart as you, but he is still at NYU. If my skin color was anything other than white (I cant talk in terms of minorities anymore - makes me ill !!!), Hillsdale would be the #1 and only college on my list. Its the only place where I would receive a fair treatment and honest appraisal of my merits.</p>
<p>Plus, am I the only person in this fading republic who thinks that the concept of diversification itself is an example of an effect causing consequences that are the opposite from those intended? So, we “diversify” all the schools and then they all look the same: 80% white, 10% black, 5% asian, 5% others. Now, we could have a college thats 99% white and a college thats 99% black and a college thats 40% asian (thats probably MIT :D) and some that have a sort of a smorgasboard of nationalities and races. The latter looks a lot more diversified to me.</p>
<p>I am always shocked when ppl consider all <em>white</em> ppl to be the same. Like a Frenchman is the same as a Swede or a Russian or a Kurd. I am equally shocked that ppl consider all blacks or asians or hispanics or pacific islanders or native Americans to be the same. </p>
<p>And while there might be a plethora of skin color at NYU, there is certainly NO diversity of thought. In fact, it would be discouraged.</p>
<p>"there is certainly NO diversity of thought. In fact, it would be discouraged. "
ha, im sorry but i had to comment on this. i dont have anything against hillsdale really, but there is very little diversity of thought. everyone seems to be conservative, and not even moderates that lean right generally. i know of a professor who said his main goal was to convince you of his view, and that if u view things the way he does at the end, then you would prob get an A. im sorry, but thats a joke, that is basically discouraging diversity of thought.</p>
<p>Cross, there are as many libertarian students at Hillsdale as conservatives, which are as divergent on many issues (if not moreso) than the conservative / liberal divide. Engagement is frequent, sometimes heated, but usually polite. Your reference to “a professor” is highly suspect. I’d need to hear a name before I believed it. (And if you say “John Reist,” he was joking. Partly.) Even then, that kind of forthrightness would be laudable compared to many other schools, especially in the liberal arts, where professors blatantly mark down nonconformist thoughts while claiming it’s purely academic. </p>
<p>It’s fine to comment as a Hillsdale resident, but you don’t go to the college and in this case it shows.</p>
<p>“dalealumnus” is right. And when you hear speculation that a Hillsdale professor has said something like what you seem to recall (if it’s even true), it was definitely meant to be a parody, a jab at the other side; Hillsdale is quite wise to the forty-or-so years of liberal indoctrination in higher education in this country, so the occasional quip from one of the professors is not uncommon.</p>
<p>Good perspective. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, especially in higher education, the notion of reverse entitlement and elitism have ruled the roost for some time. With “diverstiy” being THE buzz term of this generation, virtually every campus on the planet finds itself jumping through hoops to attract and keep students of color, regardless of academic profile. It gets many places into all kinds of trouble, but it is what it is. Hillsdale’s great strength is not having to play to these gross inequities but rather adhering to MLK’s dream of equal opportunity and color blindness instead of the bastardized notion of color elitism and preference. </p>
<p>None of that means that worthy students of color are flocking to a place like Hillsdale. It merely means the playing field is level and color-blind. The proverbial “they” complain about the very same thing at virtually every small LAC and a whole bunch of mega publics, too. Check out the challenge at Penn State, Wisconsin, and on and on. But the OJ factor is not much present @ Hillsdale.</p>
<p>How color blind is a college that requires the students picture as part of the application?</p>
<p>I don’t know why they require a photograph, but it would be interesting to find out. I’d bet millions - if I had them - that they have a sensible and completely non-racist reason. Hillsdale was one of the first colleges in the country to admit blacks. Selecting in/out for race is completely contrary to their principles.</p>
<p>A year ago, the picture was not required. The only picture was required for, I believe, housing form. And that was after you have already been admitted.</p>
<p>On the admissions website it says “8. A current photograph used for identification purposes only”</p>
<p>[Hillsdale</a> College - How to Apply](<a href=“404 Not Found - Hillsdale College”>404 Not Found - Hillsdale College)</p>
<p>They should find some other way of “identifying” applicants. It certainly ruins the cuteness of the “color blind” idea. I hope the only reason its there is that someone did not think long enough about philosophical implications of introducing such requirement.</p>
<p>Having just completed the application/admission process with my d for next year, I assure you no photo was ever requested as part of the app. She was evaluated, accepted, given her complete financial aid package, and only when we committed with our deposit for housing was the housing form requested that asks for a photo.</p>
<p>The photo had absolutely nothing to do with admission decisions (or financial aid, for that matter).</p>
<p>Just clarifying.</p>
<p>I attended Stanford, Class of '89. We were the last admits for whom a photo was required as part of our application. Nothing nefarious – the admissions office wanted to associate faces with our records. They decided later that there was a possibility of being influenced by an applicant’s looks, so removed this requirement.</p>