<p>Quotes from the student newspaper at top 10 LAC:</p>
<p>"racial slurs uttered"
"students on this campus make racist remarks toward their peers"
"someone scrawled another slur across the outer door to a dormitory [the N word]"</p>
<p>Any parents hear about their S or D experiencing this type of trauma?</p>
<p>What is the top 10 LAC?</p>
<p>Yes, please tell us so we can steer our kids away.</p>
<p>Please tell us where this is happening. If this is one of the college we are about to visit, I will cancel the trip.</p>
<p>My guess is it is Middlebury. I've frequently read that the atmosphere for minorities there is poisonous. I personally had a very negative experience there, when I took my daughter for an interview. For the record she is a European American, but has a slight learning disability. She's also a National Merit Scholar despite that, and with no accomodations for her standardized tests. The admissions officer was so horribly-blatantly patronizing to both my daughter and me, that my daughter was in tears later that day. Unfortunately this was our first college visit and cast a pall over our trip for a couple of days. All the confidence she had built up by beating her problems was undermined by this pompous bully. Luckily she was admitted to another top LAC that is both far more diverse and far, far more selective. My experience is that Middlebury is not very tolerant of differences.</p>
<p>You'll find that stuff everywhere you go, so no need to pick colleges based off those little events.</p>
<p>Take it from an actual minority. :)</p>
<p>My daughter never applied to Middlebury. After our experience there I googled reviews of the school to see if our experience was just one tired Adcom's bad day or somehow characteristic; this is a small portion of what I found;</p>
<p>StudentsReview :: Middlebury College; Several writers over a span of a couple of years</p>
<p>Middlebury's tuition has increased to $40,000 a year. I suppose some schools need a high tuition to look "important". I wasn't exactly "wowed" by their economics department, either (even though it is the top major of the school). I'd suggest other less expensive schools(I'm transferring). This IS a pretty pretentious school, though, but what top 10 school isn't a little snooty? As for the racism, well, what did you expect? It's Vermont, the whitest state in the country. I don't think a couple of ignorant a-holes should keep people from different backgrounds from getting a top education. But this is just one white man's perspective. </p>
<p>Middlebury is a pretty rotten school. As other reviwers have mentioned, the students are arrogant, snooty, close-minded and ultra-racist. If you are a minority, do not bother coming here, seriously. The school advocates institutional diversity and even has a PALANA (Pan African Latino Native-American) house and organization, but don't be fooled. I have met many minorities here who feel isolated and constantly under attack. The worse part is, there is no outreach at all. The racists win. So don't come here if you are a minority, or even white middle class, because although the education is adequate (albeit superficial and not very challenging), the atmosphere is far too hostile and isolating. </p>
<p>I chose Middebury College out of 12 top Liberal Arts Colleges. I thought that I would major in romance languages since Middlebury is well-known around the world for its language program. First of all, that was a mistake because the college brings in all the great professors during the summer session. The average language session is as good as any school's. The liberal arts curriculum is adequate mosly because of the small class sizes and professor accessibility.</p>
<p>As an African-American female, I must say that I have never encountered so much classism, racism, and sexism in the world! The students who come here are close-minded, WASPY upper class snobs from gated communities. Comments like "nouveu riche" and "nigger" are a part of my daily routine. There are even "exclusive parties" where many students of a certain ethnicity were turned away at the door. The gay pride "closet" has been torn down year after year. Students write racist remarks on cultural diversity boards. If it weren't for my strong spirit and determination to succeed,I would have left this school after the first semester. Infantile would be a compliment to these J. Crew ski freaks whose idea of a good time is getting drunk in a stuffy dorm room.</p>
<p>"Yes, please tell us so we can steer our kids away."</p>
<p>It happens everywhere, all of the racism, classism, sexism. Some people encounter a lot of it, others don't get so much. But you're going to encounter each at any college you go to.</p>
<p>It's pretty unusual in my experience for an adcom to be overtly nasty to a visiting parent or student. My daughter said she didn't really get a chance to talk to this guy. and he let me have it with both barrels in a very snide waspy put down, literally before I even said three words to him. This wasn't an intern-it was a sixty year old grown man. My feeling is that if a senior administrator can act like this to an obviously nervous Mom and kid, the rumours of tolerance for bad behavior on campus have a certain amount of credibilty-at least for me.</p>
<p>My daughter's LD and very high SATs meant that she was a very atypical applicant at a lot of the schools she was visiting. There were other schools where the adcoms were pretty frank about her chances in light of this atypical profile. That was fine with both of us, we are a pair of fairly thick skinned gals overall. It was the out and out meaness of how we were treated at Middlebury, that stood out from the widely different ways she was received at a range of selective schools we visited. </p>
<p>When I taught there was a saying "the teacher sets the tone". The comments from student review suggests that the administration at Middlebury turns a blind eye to a lot of this stuff. Based on my small experience I find this believable. </p>
<p>We still don't know where the incident that the OP is referring to took place.
Since I've just opened up a can of worms about Middlebury it would help preserve objectivity to know which school it really is. Or at least set the record straight if it isn't Middlebury.</p>
<p>A lot of the time on college campuses, these racist incidents are actually hoaxes perpetrated by the supposed victim.</p>
<p>If you a google search on "campus," "hate" and "hoax," you will see.</p>
<p>The most recent campus hate hoax was of course the Duke Lacrosse fiasco.</p>
<p>Oh give me a break, ErlindaP. Those are anonymous posts on Internet sites where you don't even need to register to post. I know for a fact that some kids log on to studentsreview to disparage rival schools, or to get back at a school for waitlisting/rejecting them. If you talk to actual Middlebury students, you'll find that, while racism does exist (as it does at all schools), it is rare. How do I know? I actually went to Middlebury, and am a minority. I'm sorry that you and your daughter had a bad experience (which, again, is the exception rather than the norm). I think you may have misinterpreted things or overreacted. I've never heard anyone say that an adcom at Middlebury was "mean" to them. Come on. And even if that was the case, 1) this is not racism (it would be classified as discrimination; and 2) it wasn't even a student. Not that either of those 2 points make it right, but...</p>
<p>This year's first year class at Middlebury is the most diverse in college history, and the college is making a concerted effort to bring in more minority students--a challenge in rural Vermont. Your're really doing a disservice to both the students and the college by posting this misinformation (again on an anonymous Internet chat room).</p>
<p>Again, I urge you to speak to Middlebury students and to visit--you'll find that Middlebury has changed quite a bit in the last decade, and is becoming more accepting and diverse every year. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Luckily she was admitted to another top LAC that is both far more diverse and far, far more selective.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's a lot easier to have more diversity when you're located in suburban Los Angeles. And for the record, Claremont McKenna isn't "far more" selective than Middlebury. It's also not as highly ranked ; p</p>
<p>I believe this is the article from which the OP selected those phrases. It is an editorial condemning those racist remarks and sentiments.</p>
<p>I think there will be some ugly behavior and comments at every school from time to time, and I hate to see a school condemned for addressing the problems. Would it be better for the comments go unnoticed? I don't think so.</p>
<p>While no school is imune to ugly behavior and comments, such behavior and comments vary in quality, frequency and, most importantly perhaps, the response from the sch's administration. Certainly the "bad" comments or conduct should not go unnoticed. OTOH, a sch can't claim to be addressing be addressing a problem, but insist that here really isn't a problem.
And, as a sch is attempting attemts to address it's problems, a parent or student prospect may understandably want to look elsewhere until there's been some resolution at the sch in question. </p>
<p>D had experience similar to that described by ErlindaP. The reception was palpably diff than at other shcs - - adcom didn't even give D a card at the end of the interview; student guide made remarks that were, at best, racially insensitive. Such conduct by staff and students in "front office" positions, where they know they are representing the college, does not happen everywhere - - and speaks volumes about the campus climate.</p>
<p>Arcadia </p>
<ul>
<li><p>just b/c you never heard of something doesn't mean it doesn't exist or didn't happen</p></li>
<li><p>not sure how reliable your assessments are since you apparently dismiss reports of misconduct ("meaness") as overstatements or misrepresentations</p></li>
<li><p>and as for dismissing anon posts, do you forget where you are (even if you did have to regisster)?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>nyc - I certainly agree racist comments and behavior are legitimate concerns, and I would want to know that a school was successful in the measures it was taking to combat such problems before I sent my child there. I just think it's hard to evaluate the atmospheres at different schools from isolated snippets of information. And I wonder whether the schools that don't mention such incidents have no such problems or whether the problems are so commonplace they go unnoticed or are tacitly accepted at those other schools.</p>
<p>nyc, were your D's experiences also at Middlebury? Or were they similar experiences but at a different school? I do think it's significant and very disappointing when the front office of a college can't represent the college better.</p>
<p>This problem I'm describing is not about disappointment at not being met with open arms at Middlebury. We started our journey knowing that we had a complicated fit to make and that not every school would be receptive. On our college visits we specifically asked adcoms how they would view a slightly uneven transcript together with stellar SAT scores and a long term. documented, LD diagnosis with steadily improving academics. This is a kid that overcame dyslexia to get an 800 on her CR SAT, (no accomodations) but the dyslexia still had a subtle effect on her learning style that resulted in less than a 4.0 in high school. Not all that much less than 4.0 but enough that it didn't completely jibe with the test scores and NMF status. The adcom at Middlebury abruptly cut my daughter off when she tried to talk to him about going overseas to learn a second language because she was determined to be bilingual. When he brought her out to the sitting room he greeted me with such a snide comment that the other parents in the room turned to look. Also for the record my daughter was a "scholarship girl" at her highschool and I am a very ethnic looking Italian American-so it wasn't a case of one too many soccer Mom's and rich kids that morning.(still no excuse) As I said in my first post-he greeted me with the put down-I didn't even get to say hello first.</p>
<p>At Brown, in contrast the Adcom (African American woman)was frank about her slim chances of admission, minus the snarky attitude and put downs. That was fine with us, we were looking for honest information. Other , equally selective places went out of their way to get to know her and again were open about chances. I used to teach and I don't think there is ever an excuse for snideness in dealing with a kid. Even if you are furious with them for actual bad behavior-which was far from the case in our situation. This was simply a nervous kid, who was somewhat different from the norm, trying to get a sense of how she might fit in at the first college she visited. Racism-no, but I do think it was discrimination straight from an administrator-given the LD. In no way did we feel entitled to admission anywhere, but we did feel entitled to polite treatment.</p>
<p>Nceph - </p>
<p>Sorry, for being unclear. D's incident was NOT at Midd (but another top LAC).</p>
<p>I'm not sure that any school volunteers ("mentions") that it has racial, diversity, crime on campus or other signif problems. Sch admins tend to answer questions regarding problems only when pressed, and with varying degrees of veracity and responsiveness. </p>
<p>I agree that it can be difficult to evaluate schools on ltd information, but all an applicant family has to go on is a snippet: the tour, the interview, the overnight, yeild prgms for accepted students - - all of which are "staged" events. One doesn't get a total picture until one has enrolled and lived on the campus - - and even then, one student's experience may not be fully representative of the campus culture (and thus an inaccurate basis for generalization).</p>
<p>And I find it troubling that whenever racial incidents are reported, the response from every quarter remains, "we're no worse than everyone else." Or to dismiss the report as merely anecdotal or based on ltd info Or flame the whistle-blower.</p>
<p>Imagine a parent in Family Court saying, "I don't beat my kid anymore than anyone else" -- not a compelling defense.</p>
<p>Erlinda, here is what your responses sound like to me. Your D and you, like most on this board, had to go to figure out where was the right fit. You had some particular issues that needed some reality-check before you went and applied (the LD) so as not to waste an application. At your very first college visit (Middlebury) your D, who was understandably nervous as all are when going to their first interview, was clearly given a message that she'd be a bad fit at Middlebury. </p>
<p>Fortunately, your D is a worthy student. She did find the right fit at Claremont. Now all is well. </p>
<p>Many months later, along comes a post (suspect by some here since it's a very first post under an unfamiliar name). These new names are posts sometimes just concoted to stir up a discussion on some political hotwire topic. These issues have been discussed, with great sensitivity for years, on CC, so some of the more experienced posters even played back with the OP.</p>
<p>You made a huge leap, as someone not of minority background, that because your D had been treated unfavorably at Midd, likely because the LD match wouldn't work, Midd might also be the anonymous racist school under discussion.</p>
<p>As serious as you are about your family's reputation, that's how serious Middlebury is about its institution, and all the families who attend it are equally invested. Racism, in many places, is all too real and doesn't need conjecture to prove that it exists. Your work on this site is a wild conjecture as to the idenity of the college protested by a different poster. That's irresponsible and like a loose cannon, can only do harm and create bad feelings.</p>
<p>I do see a parallel that you consider a "snarky" adcom who couldn't relate to an LD might also be a discriminatory person, and also discriminate for racial reasons. I think as long as you own your argument as conjecture, speculation, "I wonder.." it is more honest and fair, if you want to continue to characterize that bad time at the Midd interview. </p>
<p>And I AM sorry it was a bad time. I also teach and know that there are many ways to talk to students, and adults are responsible to keep their feelings and extreme youth in mind at such a vulnerable moment. </p>
<p>I hope your D is knocking em out at Claremont!!! My folks taught at a college noted for productive accommodations for LD students (New England College) so yes, it's an important journey that must be handled with sensitivity from schools, and courage from the students. But you know that.:)</p>
<p>I certainly don't think every school is no worse than the others in regard to incidence of racist attitudes, but I think it's hard to assess. Are the colleges whose newspapers run editorials about problems of racism worse than those who don't write about those issues? Or are the ones whose papers include those editorials the ones with students who care about those issues and want to bring about positive change? It's hard to know if the college whose newspaper editorials are devoted to criticizing the cafeteria food is a more welcoming place or if the students there are just uninterested in bigger issues.</p>
<p>I agree that we all have limited information if we're not a part of the particular college community. The overnight is probably the best opportunity for a prospective student to get a feel for a place. That's when she can talk directly to current students who aren't on the admissions staff, overhear comments and notice social and housing patterns and the like.</p>
<p>I read the discussion pretty much exactly like p3t did. And I would like to add that Arcadia, who attended Midd would certainly have more insight than someone exterpolating from one disagreeable instance to make a total leap to an unfounded supposition about the identity of the original post's subject. It seems patently unfair to me to brand Arcadia's post as being as unreliable as Erlinda's in this instant.</p>
<p>Like p3t says, it's good that Erlinda's D found the right place for her, as Arcadia also did. Both sound like great schools.</p>
<p>I said all along I didn't know what school it was, and asked the OP to set the record straight in my third post. </p>
<p>I wasn't looking for racism when I originally went on student review to check out Middlebury. I was trying to find out what it was really like because I didn't want to base our opininion on one administrator's bad day. Because of her interest in international relations both counselor's at her highschool had recomended Middlebury to our daughter, thought she was a fit, and she was still interested. At the time-two years ago-I found many posts about racism, which surprised me. My daughter did not apply to Middlebury, so there are no sour grapes involved. She was welcomed at some places and given frank discouragement at other colleges we visited, but this was the only real "put down" we encountered at any school.</p>
<p>The adcom wasn't just discouraging-he was rude. My daughter has dealt with discouragement for many years and has developed a push forward, try again, attitude when given discouraging feedback. She wouldn't have come as far as she has without a thick skin. This went well beyond discouraging. </p>
<p>I understand that Middlebury folks value their school's reputation, but this was my experience, I'm not complaining about any other school that was honestly, but politely, discouraging and I stumbled upon the student review posts about racism at Middlebury in the process of trying to give the place a second look.</p>
<p>It was wrong of me to conjecture-but my conjecture was based on what I had read on Student Review , in the process of trying to understand what I had experienced. Taken together my experience and my readings gave me an impression of administrative insensitivity.</p>
<p>If Arcadia had a good experience at Middlebury that's great and I hope that's the norm.</p>