<p>Can anyone comment on some of the challenges that URMs face at Swarthmore? If you are a current student or an alum, knowing what you know, would you make the same decision to attend Swarthmore?</p>
<p>Perhaps some current URM students can contribute their thoughts.</p>
<p>I can give some longer term historical trends. Since Swarthmore became serious about diversity starting in the 1960s, URMs faced the same challenges as at any historically white affluent college or university. These came to a head quite early at Swarthmore in 1969 in a week of turmoil refered to as "The Crisis". African American students took over the Admissions Office with a series of demands (admissions, faculty hiring, etc.). While the College was receptive to the demands, the tactics didn't sit well with Quaker ethos. None of that really mattered a week into negotiations when the President of the College climbed the stairs to his office and keeled over dead of a heart attack. The students ended the takeover, the Admissions Dean quietly moved to Princeton, and the College began a very serious effort to not only enroll minority students, but to build the kind of support (in the Deans Office, in the faculty, etc.) that makes diversity a part of the fabric of the school.</p>
<p>Today, I think you will find that Swarthmore is one of the most diverse colleges or universities on the East coast. 44% of the enrolled students this year are minority students and/or internationals. 53% of the acceptance letters were mailed to non-white or international students over the last two years.</p>
<p>Every possible minority group (ethnic, gender, sexual orientation) is represented on the staff of the Deans Office -- an important commitment to provide a voice (and a sounding board, shoulder to lean on, etc.) for minority groups on campus. Not making this commitment is one of the ways colleges struggle with diversity. It's not enough to let minority students be a part of a white campus culture. A school has change its culture so that diversity is an inherent defining characteristic of the campus community. I believe that is the case at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>There is no "theme" housing at Swarthmore. No "black" dorm. No "Latino/a" house. Efforts over the years to consider such options have been resoundingly shot down by the student body as being contrary to Swarthmore's ideals of inclusiveness. The last time a trial offering of a "multi-cultural" hall in the housing lottery was made (with the support of the African-American students group), the students rejected the entire concept with a petition drive in the dining hall and by submitting essentially no applications for the hall, thus rendering the idea stillborn.</p>
<p>There are active ethnic identity groups -- for African Americans, for Caribbian ancestory, for Latino/a, and for every regional permutation of Asian American. These groups are prominent parts of the overall campus social scene. For example, a cross-section of students attend all-campus parties thrown by these identity groups.</p>
<p>In reading the school newspaper weekly for the past six years, I have seen virtually no reported racial incidents and very little grousing from Swarthmore's minority students (considering that super-intelligent college students are world class grousers!).</p>
<p>The one "racial" incident that did make the newspaper over that time frame concerned an assistant women's baskeball coach who exhorted her team to press the ball upcourt against the opponent's largely black defense because "black players don't like to play defense". The day after the game, the basketball team's captains (white and black) went to the athletic director with concerns that this coaching was inappropriate. The assistant coach who made the remarks resigned that afternoon and the athletic department released a statement that such racial stereotyping as unacceptable on Swarthmore athletic teams.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your thoughtful response! </p>
<p>Our daughter is fortunate as she is deciding between Swarthmore and Amherst. She is a Latina who deeply values diversity and has learned a lot about perspective-taking. She also realizes that diversity extends beyond race/ethnicity -- class, gender, sexuality, ability, ideology. Two visits to Swarthmore were both wonderful, in large part because of the students. </p>
<p>I did wonder whether URM felt that they were part of the intellectual and social community. It certainly sounds like they are part of the social community. Any knowledge about the academic successes among URMs -- for example, representation in the Honors program?</p>
<p>Swarthmore</a> College - Fellowships and Prizes - recipients</p>
<p>This is a list of recipients of the national awards in 2005 and 2006. Seems like there's plenty of academic successes among URMs...</p>
<p>I don't want to say anything negative about Amherst. Amherst and Swarthmore, along with a small handful of other colleges, have been leaders in committing to diversity. Amherst has done a great job.</p>
<p>I do firmly believe that the campus community at Swarthmore is more fully integrated than at Amherst where there is "theme" housing and occasional reports of concern about de facto segregation in the school paper. My sense is that Amherst's administration is wrestling with the same kind of jock/non-jock divisions that Williams is attempting to fix with their "new" housing system. That particular divide has racial impact because athletes at elite colleges tend to be overwhelmingly white.</p>
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I did wonder whether URM felt that they were part of the intellectual and social community. It certainly sounds like they are part of the social community. Any knowledge about the academic successes among URMs -- for example, representation in the Honors program?
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<p>The only real statistical breakdown of academic performance by ethnicity is some data required by the federal government on graduation rates by race. This data can be a little tricky because the cohort sizes are sometimes so small that you get some fairly wild swings from year to year, especially when broken down by race and gender. </p>
<p>Overall, there appears to be difference in graduation rates by gender at Swarthmore much more than race:</p>
<p>Six year grad rate for 2005:</p>
<p>White
Female: 96%
Male: 87%</p>
<p>Asian American
Female: 100%
Male: 90%</p>
<p>Latino/a
Female: 95%
Male: 73%</p>
<p>African American
Female: 100%
Male: 86%</p>
<p>To show you the year to year swings, the prior year (2004), the grad rate for Latino men was 92%.</p>
<p>I don't think that there is any noticeable distinction on campus. Swartmore's URM students are incredibly well-qualified. I think anyone exposed to Swarthmore would be quickly disabused of the notion that emphasizing diversity in admissions requires lowered qualifications. </p>
<p>I'm sure there are indivdual students (white, black, brown, whatever) who struggle academically. There are also students of all ethnicities at the top of the pack academically. Most of the academic support programs originally designed to help a diverse student body have long since expanded to be widely used by student of all types -- for example, the excellent 3-day study skills seminar offered to all returning first-year students at the end of winter break.</p>
<p>Judging from a superficial measure like names, it certainly appears that the ranks of Honors grads, Residential Associates, and Writing Associates reflect the student body at Swarthmore. Remember, the campus is only 56% white, just barely half. So the diversity is striking to anyone taking even a casual stroll around campus.</p>
<p>I don't want to oversell. I have to believe that some minority students can't help but feel some sense of alienation at an institution that was lily-white for 100 years. That's true at every elite college. But, relative to other schools, that sort of thing simply doesn't pop up in the school paper, the administration reports, etc. with any regularity at Swarthmore today.</p>
<p>Do these graduation rates account for transfers who graduate elsewhere, or include those who transfer in? How do these rates work as per actual numbers of students?</p>
<p>This is all very comforting.
I myself do not see a problem with theme housing although I understand why others do. I think an ideal scenario is one that allows individuals to develop different dimensions of their identities inside as well as outside of the classroom. As long as there is openness in the classroom and in other co-curricular events I think housing may pose less of a problem. </p>
<p>I work at a college that offers a multi-cultural hall (and that is the most diverse hall) but also offers students opportunties for themed grad ceremonies the night before graduation. Some of this is due to multiple languages and to large families (and we are limited to 8 graduation tickets per person). These ceremonies are open to all and promote a lot of intergroup support. </p>
<p>But the Swarthmore model seems interesting too and may work because of the diversity that they have worked hard to achieve.</p>
<p>On grad rates:</p>
<p>No. Colleges get screwed by transfers in reporting these numbers. Students who transfer OUT reduce the graduation rates. Students who transfer IN are not counted and do not increase the numbers.</p>
<p>Frankly, the numbers are not reliable for subgroups in a one year period. You might only have ten African American males in a graduating class at Swarthmore. So one student transferring closer to home can change the grad rate by 10%.</p>
<p>Swarthmore</a> College | Admissions | Web Ambassadors</p>
<p>This is a list of Swarthmore "web ambassadors" - you can contact any of them if you want a "current student" perspective...</p>
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I myself do not see a problem with theme housing although I understand why others do.
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<p>Yes. I understand that the impetus for theme housing most often comes from the affinity groups themselves. It's kind of a two-edge sword -- providing a sense of community, but undermining the ultimate reason for seeking diversity in the first place. It's something each college has to figure out and, frankly, these are issues that are far more important in considering whether a campus culture is a good fit than whether or not the Economics Department is "good". I would guess that a student wishing to stick to his or her own racial group could probably find a school where that is easier than it would be in Swarthmore housing.</p>
<p>The story of the last effort to try a multi-cultural hall actually says a lot about the way the students govern Swarthmore by informal means. The Housing Dean went along with the proposal of the test by offering the hall. It was the students who responded "Hell, no" in the most effective possible way: by submitting no applications for the hall, so it had to be withdrawn due to lack of interest. It's just one of those Swarthmore quirks: the students take pride in a tradition of the entire campus being "multi-cultural" and strongly resist any move that would divide the campus.</p>
<p>In practice, the Swarthmore housing lottery does allow small groups of friends to live together. I would be surprised if this does not include small groups of Latina friends, or Asian American friends, or African American friends. Some students bond along ethnic lines; other do not. However, the lottery rules make it virtually impossible for any group to take over an entire floor or wing. Plus, most of the dorms have first-years mixed by race and gender...so you end up with pockets of friends mixed into a "multi-cultural" setting in most dorms. I think the result is that you do have fairly strong "affinity groups" on campus, but they exist as prominent pillars in the overall culture of classroom, dorm life, and the social scene.</p>
<p>To be honest, my daughter gave up on the whole concept of figuring out ethnicity her first week at Swarthmore. So many of her new friends were mixed (Latina/Pakistani or whatever) that she couldn't keep it all straight anyway.</p>
<p>That is so true. I have on my computer a picture of a student group that my Swat student works with and looking at it now, it is incredibly diverse, but I could not tell you who is from where or exactly their ethnic backgrounds. This is very typical of Swarthmore, as I think lots of people don't really notice so much, but accept the diversity as the norm. To me it seem very unselfconscious, although various groups do have affinity groups established for different reasons.</p>
<p>I wonder if many parents of Swat students are the same way, and that is why their children are influenced in many ways to go there. It was what my children were used to growing up.</p>
<p>There are various "diversity" groups (not only ethnic diversity), some are open to all, some are closed. So students have many options for social interactions.</p>