<p>As I filling out the CPW form to host a prefrosh I noticed that the CPW form for matching hosts and prefrosh has a lot of standard questions relating to contact information and interests but also a question on race/ethnicity which struck me as pretty odd*. The question didn't specify how the information is used but I assume it's used to create same race/ethnic group matches. Does anyone know if that is standard/what the rationale is or are others as perplexed and slightly troubled by this as I am? </p>
<p>*The relevant instructions are
The following questions are used to help match you with a prefrosh.
1. Racial/Ethnic Identity: choose from a drop down list which was pretty nonstandard. Asians were divided into East Asians and South Asians with seemingly no choice for Southeast Asians. There was also no option to indicate two or more races.</p>
<p>Well, it does ask you how important it is that your host shares the same response as you do - most likely to match you up race-wise depending on how important it is to you. If you don’t care what race your host is, choose whichever one says “no preference” or something (I forgot, I filled out the form like a month ago lol), or if it matters that your host is Caucasian/Asian/etc. (whichever race you designate you are), choose whatever is appropriate on the scale from “somewhat important” to “very important” (again, prolly not exactly what it says, but you get the point).</p>
<p>To be clear this isn’t an issue for me personally as I made plans to host a particular prefrosh. The only way I see to indicate importance is there is a question on what factor is most important to me (maybe the form for prefrosh is different). I’m only bringing this up because I question whether MIT should be using race as a factor in the matching process. </p>
<p>Out of curiosity: Was there a gender question, and did you find that odd? :)</p>
<p>Some prefrosh want to talk to someone of their race about their experiences at MIT. Finding someone similar to you and finding out that they adjusted to campus and are happy at MIT can make a big impact in students who aren’t sure about going to a predominantly racially privileged school. (Of course, this does interact with class differences - I find MIT to be pretty decent about handling race, but often unthinking when handling class issues.)</p>