<p>My DD recently returned from the prefrosh weekend and said that she noted more self-segregation (e.g. students from the same ethnic/cultural group seated together during meals, etc.) at Harvard than at Yale or Stanford.<br>
Given that the prefrosh event only provides a limited snapshot of what life is like at Harvard, we would appreciate feedback from any current/recent students regarding whether it is common for students to self-segregate at Harvard.<br>
Also, did any prefrosh attendees notice this as well?</p>
<p>Msmdad, that's an interesting point. Here's my .02 (my perspective is that I was a recent Harvard and Stanford grad).</p>
<p>IMO your daughter's observations were very perceptive, and I think there's a great deal of truth to them. Harvard can be a very tough atmostphere both academically and socially, and on <em>average</em> the students at Harvard are extremely intense and competitive in both realms. Although that has a negative connotation, a few qualifiers are: (1) There are positive and negative aspects of "intensity," (2) It goes without saying that this does not apply to all students.</p>
<p>Your original question specifically asked about ethnic self-segregation, and there's some truth to that. IMO it's somewhat more true than at Stanford (although Stanford has ethnic "theme houses" where students are particularly inclined to self-segregate can live). No personal experience with Yale.</p>
<p>Having said that, the concept of "segregation" at Harvard goes far beyond ethnicity. Many students try to find activities (sports, music, ethnic organizations, community service, etc) to immerse themselves into -- not only to "become involved" (as they've been doing their entire lives), but also to develop a social network that they identify with and use to support themselves through the day-to-day stresses of life at Harvard. That works amazingly well for some people. But I also met a significant number of students who had a very tough time because they were continually searching for an activity to pour themselves into (i.e. their "thing") but could never discover it -- for many of them, Harvard was a difficult place.</p>
<p>It's funny how differently different people see the same situations. My D attended the admit weekend at Stanford last year and observed a notable ethnic and racial self-segregation, including, but not limited to, the self-segregated housing. It was one the reasons she chose Harvard over Stanford.</p>
<p>Her experience at Harvard is, of course, just one kid's experience, but she has found friends through housing, classes and extra-curricular activities of many different ethnicities, races, geographical origins, religious views, academic interests, political persuasions. Her freshman entry includes kids from different states within the U.S. as well as different countries, of a variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds, and of a variety of different political opinions, religious views and academic interests. As a result of her varied assortment of friends, the group she has decided to room/block with next year includes that same wide assortment. She could have blocked with a group from her main extra curricular activity, and while that group would all have fit into that same EC, it would still have been a varied group from an ethnic, racial, religious, geographic and academic interest standpoint.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it's a natural response that people have when they are in a new, somewhat intimidating environment; gravitate towards those you perceive to be most like you. Obviously, similarity doesn't come from people looking the same, but unfortunately skin color, ethnicity, etc. are the easiest things to take at face value.</p>
<p>I can't comment on the Harvard or Stanford scene. Though my S is at Harvard, I have not personally observed how students interact with one another socially (his blocking group, however, is very diverse, and they do a lot of things together). For Yale, it may be interesting to google Nikko Bowie on rationales for apparent and real self-segregation. Nikko writes for the Yale Daily News.</p>
<p>"observed a notable ethnic and racial self-segregation, including, but not limited to, the self-segregated housing. It was one the reasons she chose Harvard over Stanford."</p>
<p>You read my mind. I also observed worse self-segregation at Stanford than Harvard, much of it related to the theme housing, and this was a factor in my choice to go to Harvard over Stanford, too.</p>
<p>My son has heard that many of the African-Americans at MIT hang out in Chocolate City (a theme dorm) and aren't that involved with the rest of the campus. Thus a desire for diversity seems to be pushing him towards Harvard, which is ironic given that he doesn't like the randomized assignment of blocking groups to houses.</p>
<p>Aedar:</p>
<p>Interesting. Randomized assginment was instituted to get rid of self-segregation. Before the lottery, Currier was known as the AA House, Eliot as the jock House, Lowell had most of the Crimson writers, Adams had the artsy types, etc...
The Housing Dean personally matches all incoming frehsmen by groups. She did a good job with my S. Only one person turned out not to be a good fit (although on paper he should have been great). The rest will continue blocking together for the rest of their time at Harvard. Still, they are a diverse group geographically, ethnically, religiously, and academically.</p>
<p>Interestingly my D attended the Harvard prefrosh weekend and her observation was - The asians and whites appeared to mingle well, but the African-Americans seemed to be segregated. I was surprised and a little disappointed.</p>
<p>I don't imagine it's the fault of the school; hopefully this is something that will heal over time because of programs liek AA, which help enter blacks into places liek Harvard where over time they will become more comfortable and prevalent.</p>
<p>I agree, I think schools like Harvard are doing as much as they can to create a diverse class. I think the problem is a much deeper social issue that the whole country has to face. As an immigrant from Europe I am still amazed at the state of race relations in America. Perhaps it is unreasonable to believe that forty years is enough time to resolve the injustices of the previous two-hundred years.</p>
<p>my first impression, before going to prefrosh weekend, was that harvard is very racially segregated, because a freshman called me up a few weeks before and asked me if I want a host of my own race. I said really didn't care, but they ended up giving me a host of my race anyway. so I was little surprised by the blatant attempt to segregate students before they even get to college.
But while i was there, I met people from all over the world and interacted with a diverse group of people, and everyone seemed very friendly and accepting. so i would say it totally depends on what kind of person you are. if you want to self-segregate, it's very easy to do with all the ethnic/racial clubs, but if not, you have ample opportunity to mingle with others.</p>
<p>As a Southerner with a D at Harvard, I have been impressed every time I've visited with how much interaction there appears to be. My D, who was attracted to Harvard in large part because of the diversity of the student body, seems to concur. During the opening exercises in the fall the Kuumba Singers performed, and I was delighted to find that while the repertoire was based in African and African-American musical cultures, most of the student performers were not African-American. The Harvard Square area is a cultural mix of all ethnicities, and I've noted that couples walking down on the sidewalks can be any combination of races and gender, and not draw a second glance from those around them. But the cultural norms to which I'm comparing are not those of California or Connecticut, so I can't judge whether the degree of interaction that I've seen at Harvard would be greater or lesser than in those places.</p>
<p>I also think the admins at Harvard do all they can to mitigate self-segregation of students and to promote friendships based on common ec's and concentrations. </p>
<p>Students have to do their part, too. Some will and some won't. the Crimson has an article on this topic today.</p>