<p>i applied to lehigh university because i liked the campus, knew they had great academics for engineers, and i felt like it was somewhere id never be bored or feel left out. i felt like it was perfect. but after hearing a friend of mine talk about the discrimination she is experiencing at her school (which has about 3 times as many blacks as lehigh does) my mom and i talked about whether or not lehigh was a place where as a black female i would have a support system of school officials and students like me at the university. i started researching diversity at lehigh and was a bit shocked and sad to read about the racial incidents that happened after obama was elected. i know that was a couple years ago but is this something that is normal for blacks at lehigh to experience? </p>
<p>also, while reading, i read student perspectives that said repeatedly that minorities cling to one another and that is one of the biggest issues regarding diversity. i realize that blacks are not the majority and i am not the type of person to find and cling to other blacks simply because of race, and i am willing to find friends outside my race. but would other students be as accepting of me?</p>
<p>Lehigh is kind of in the middle of a run down town and its like in hick PA, so they are more rasist there then in the burbs or in the city. Like alot of the people who live in trailers and hunt out there and drink beer all day. They live up there. But i think its close to Dorney Park which is kind of cool, but Lehigh is on a hill so if you want to ride a bike its harder. I bet it depends more on who you are more than anything. I bet whereever you go you can find people who will like you. And i bet if you went to a college with alot of different ethnic groups they would all kind of group together anyway cause they like the same food and stuff like that.</p>
<p>im not too concerned with the towns people but concerning the students, are they so closed minded that they dont accept anyone thats not like them?</p>
<p>Most schools have low diversity, even if they claim to have a lot of it. It is true that students from underrepresented backgrounds tend to hang out with each other because there is a sense of identity which they can relate with another student of color. </p>
<p>I really don’t know much about Lehigh, but I suggest you speak with them and see if they have some sort of support for students of color and try to speak to them about it. Also, you could speak to previous alumni and see how it works out. </p>
<p>All in all, I suggest that a school’s diversity not be a HUGE issue, as hard as this may sound, because most schools have the same amount of diversity regardless of what they say.</p>
<p>Our family knows 3 minorty students attending Lehigh. It is a really nice campus and students are friendly and supportive of each other. There have been some very vocal minority students that seem to be interested in activism who have printed and reported feelings of discomfort being in the minority at Lehigh. </p>
<p>I know that all colleges are trying hard to increase the diversity on campus’ but I just don’t understand why any student would select a school that they are suspect of from the beginning. If you have your doubts why don’t you think about a bigger school that would surely have a more diverse population. I really liked Lehigh when we visited but I could not tell you personally that we have seen anything concerning. I also have my doubts that the reported incidents are the general attitude. There may be a couple bad apples so to speak on the campus but that does not mean that racism is rampant.</p>
<p>earlygrad797: well i checked out and it seems that their multicultural center is a good as a support system for minorities. ill definitley speak to some of the alumni and current students about their experiences at lehigh.</p>
<p>momma-three: well its not so much the diversity as an issue, because coming from a high school where the whites and asians are the majority, i know how to handle a school with less diversity and now that i see there is a multicultural center where i can get support i feel better about lehigh. its good to see that when you and your family visited the campus there was no sign of rampant racism; that was my biggest worry about the school.</p>