<p>I'm Asian, and I've been considering applying to Washington and Lee University, and College of William and Mary. The thing is, both schools are very white and conservative (especially W&L), and I've heard a few things that the white population don't interact with other races and that the schools aren't too minority-friendly. Anyone out there have their thoughts?</p>
<p>I've never heard of W&M not being minority-friendly. Don't know much about W&L.</p>
<p>Well my HS is diversity-lacking, but minority friendly. I think it's best to ask someone who goes to these schools and is a minority, versus someone not a minority and who doesn't attend these schools</p>
<p>I would probably concur with this. I had a friend, who was white and went to WM, and totally felt this way.</p>
<p>Something to note: segregation is actually more prominent in schools with large portions of minorities.</p>
<p>"Something to note: segregation is actually more prominent in schools with large portions of minorities."</p>
<p>This is so true, though it is mainly due to "voluntary" segregation. For whatever reason, Asians, Desi Indians and some black groups (i.e. Nigerians, Ethiopians, some but not all African Americans, etc.) seem to stick together in HS and college more than they choose to interact with others. You see it at the library, cafeteria, social situations and some dorm living situations. </p>
<p>In some situations, this is a natural support system or a means of survival in a potentially hostile environment.</p>
<p>Funny. I always thought it was the white kids who stick together. ;)</p>
<p>I just want to say two things:</p>
<p>a) There are schools that place a much higher priority on achieving diversity on campus than other schools.</p>
<p>b) There are schools where the culture encourages more interaction among various racial and ethnic groups.</p>
<p>If I were a minority student, I would look at these two issues very closely in the college selection process.</p>
<p>"If I were a minority student, I would look at these two issues very closely in the college selection process."</p>
<p>...but only if those two issues are important to a minority student. For some reason, some people prefer to stick with their own kind than to interact with others. </p>
<p>Let's face it, we all interact here on CC, but many of us would never speak to each other in the real world!</p>
<p>If you're a minority student who wants to interact, interesteddad brings up 2 good points. It makes the college search a lot harder (trust me I know), but in the long run it'll pay off. Of course there's nothing wrong with not wanting to interact so much as gsp<em>silicon</em>valley brings up.</p>
<p>interesteddad, are you stating those points as separate issues, or opposing situations? I am guessing the former, but, my statement would imply that those points are opposing. An example is Cornell, where there are distinct, optional, dorms for the different races, basically de facto segregation. Anyone may choose to reside in the black or native american dorms, but still, this segregation is of dubious value.</p>
<p>The source of my statement was actually taken from a work of a ironically, well respected black critic of affirmative action, Thomas Sowell, that works at the Hoover Institution at Stanford.</p>
<p>Personally, I think you should just forget about the racial makeup of the given school and just instead pay attention to how the students and professors treat you. It's great to be around nice kids regardless of their race. If you feel tension in the atmosphere, then you may want to avoid it.</p>
<p>I don't think they have to be opposing issues, but I'd like to hear from interesteddad to see if he meant them as opposing or complimentery issues</p>
<p>"An example is Cornell, where there are distinct, optional, dorms for the different races, basically de facto segregation."</p>
<p>This particular situation may provide a much-needed support system, since people from different ethnic groups don't always want to eat or study together. Personally, if I was a student who preferred this environment, I would attend an HBCU, but that's a completely different thread.</p>
<p>So, is a gender-specific dorm or dorm floor de facto segregation?</p>
<p>no, there's a whole set of different reasons for gender speration.</p>
<p>I meant them as two separate issues, not opposing.</p>
<p>However, if a school's culture doesn't even put a priority on the diversity in the first place, then it is unlikely that the second would be the case.</p>
<p>I think that Wm and Mary is light years ahead of W & L when it comes to diversity. Study the history of any school as it pertains to their commitment or lack of commitment to diversity vs their pride in the homgeneity and it will be quite revealing in this case. As one placement director who places kids of color at our school often says to me, I'm not going to allow any of my kids to be someones guinea pig. </p>
<p>I know two of the counselors at Wm & Mary and I've been very pleased with the direction the school is going as it pertains to multiculturalism; the new President brings with him a very strong commitment to civil rights and he was a real champion for diversity and Chapel Hill. </p>
<p>If diversity and comfort level are important to you and your choices are Washington and Lee or Wm and Mary, I'd look at Wm and Mary.</p>
<p>General Lee is buried on the campus and W & L and they are very proud of what he stood for. W & L was last LAC to have a faculty member of color. There are South Carolina and even Mississippi schools that are more progressive than W & L.</p>
<p>"However, if a school's culture doesn't even put a priority on the diversity in the first place, then it is unlikely that the second would be the case."
So you cannot be against Affirmative action in principle and simultaneously support cultural interaction? </p>
<p>To the OP (if she is still listening): Just visit the schools. I really do not think this should be a deciding factor, unless one school is more decidedly more uncomfortable or racist than another. It really sounds like some of the posters are penalizing the school for not pursuing diversity. They are unduly villifying W&L.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! BTW I'm male (for ashernm), and I ALWAYS follow through with every thread that I start.</p>
<p>It's just that I come from a very diverse HS (with the exceptions of Asians at only 1.5%... my school is like 15% black, 10% hispanic, maybe 20% of some mix...), so I'm a very race-friendly person, and I wouldn't want to go to school that isn't</p>
<p>Here's an interesting article on the subject of this thread:
<a href="http://www.diversityweb.org/diversity_innovations/student_development/recruitment_retention_mentoring/reisberg.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www.diversityweb.org/diversity_innovations/student_development/recruitment_retention_mentoring/reisberg.cfm</a></p>
<p>"Copyright 1999, The Chronicle of Higher Education...
In Bids to Increase Minority Enrollments, Colleges Deal With Reality and Perceptions
Rural campuses, state demographics, and reports of racial
incidents can all pose challenges </p>
<p>By Leo Reisberg
Having grown up in Boston, Tito Jackson experienced culture shock during his first week at the University of New Hampshire. When he saw only one other black face at an orientation event for 2,400 freshmen, he wanted to go home, he says.</p>
<p>A senior now, majoring in history, Mr. Jackson has adjusted to being the only black student in many of his classes. But some things still bother him -- such as when he is mistaken for an athlete, not just because of his size (6-foot-2, 240 pounds) but also because of the color of his skin. </p>
<p>"It's gotten to the point where people just ask, 'How was the game this weekend?' or 'What number are you?' not like, 'What's your major?'" he says. </p>
<p>He has found such stereotypes common at New Hampshire, where only 73 of the 10,000 undergraduates are black. Last November, Mr. Jackson and almost all of the other black students on the campus occupied the president's office for a day and left only after the administration promised to make the student population more diverse. University officials promised to bring the enrollment of black students up to 300 by 2004. </p>
<p>For administrators, now comes the task of figuring out just how to do that in a state where less than 1 per cent of the population is black. ..."</p>
<p>
[quote]
There are South Carolina and even Mississippi schools that are more progressive than W & L.
[/quote]
You obviously don't know much about Washington and Lee. The school has a "Speaking Tradition". If you don't know what that is, look it up. Washington and Lee is so small that students there treat each other like family. On those times I have walked through their campus, I have seen the friendliest and happiest students I have ever see on any campus in the United States. If you are a minority and a halfway decent person, you will leave Washington and Lee with more lifetime friends than you could every image and certainly more than at most diversity obscessed universities. The reason their are not more minorities at W&L is because it is located in the middle of nowhere and the admissions staff will not drop the school's high standards the way so many other schools do.</p>