Racism in Terre-Haute

<p>I want honest opinion about it. I am deciding between Rose and MIT and this is a factor between many that can make me choose the latter. I dont like when it is so conservative...</p>

<p>bump…bumpy</p>

<p>I know that racism has been a problem in certain parts of Terre Haute in the past, but I haven’t seen or heard evidence of it at Rose or in Terre Haute recently. I can’t say that I keep up on events in Terre Haute that well, but I haven’t noticed that racism is a problem. Rose does tend to lean conservative, like almost any engineering school, but it’s not overwhelming. To give an example, the student newspaper did a poll before the election that showed Obama winning campus-wide.</p>

<p>Oh thats interesting to know.Nick123? are you a Rose student? how about the diversity of Rose?</p>

<p>Yes, I am a current sophomore. Diversity is an area that our president has made a top priority to improve with a number of initiatives. We already have active National Society of Black Engineers and Society of Women Engineers chapters, as well as an active Unity organization. While Rose may not be as diverse as a lot of larger schools, it is known for it’s sense of community and making everyone feel welcome, and as we like to say “Once you’re here, you’re family.”</p>

<p>My take on this is that it is not a huge issue. As Nick said, sure, Rose is not diverse as the larger, more liberal arts-oriented schools, but I really feel that people here are too concerned with just getting by and having a fun time of it to worry about differences in ethnicity or background. Who you are or what you did before you cam to Rose matters very little. What’s more important is what you do here at Rose and how you perform in classes, how reliable you are as a group member, how open/approachable you are in the dorms, that kind of thing.</p>

<p>Unlike nic767, Rose’s lack of diversity does bother me. But it took a while for me to become bothered by our homogeneity. I first noticed the problem during my internship last summer at Boston Scientific CRM. I noticed that a LOT of my fellow interns were Indian, East Asian, and women. And as I formed relationships with them, I began to relish the fact that they had different backgrounds from me and had interesting stories to tell about their cultures. This is a stark contrast from Rose, which is more dominated by white males from the Midwest. There’s nothing BAD about this demographic. Hell, I’m a white dude. I just become bored by sameness.</p>

<p>That’s not to say that we’re utterly devoid of diversity. We have a diversity club, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers, and other organizations that try to prop up campus diversity. I am very excited that Dr. J is making this issue a priority over the next few years. Most people here recognize that diversity is a problem, and we’re working on it. Plus, I’m not sure that diversity should be the make-or-break factor when it comes to deciding a school. Rose-Hulman is a top notch education, and that’s certainly something to factor in.</p>

<p>By the way: I haven’t heard any racist remarks on campus. Engineers are typically pretty conservative, so they’re very unlikely to harbor or express any hateful feelings towards a given race.</p>

<p>There is certainly no racist problem at Rose. People get along and view each other is equals. There is not at lot of diversity…but diversity can come in a lot of forms. There is acceptance of everyone in a supportive community.</p>

<p>No problems here for racist comments or problems.</p>