Tulane Turnoff: Lack of Color

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
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<p>
[quote]
nyc, I agree with you that it is fair to comment on, and raise awareness of, an exisiting problem. However, IMHO, once you go beyond raising that awareness, you should be prepared to either help, or get out of the way. </p>

<p>My problem with hnubi's post is that he really wasn't trying to raise awareness, offer solutions, or even get out of the way. What he did was quote in toto miguel's orginal (and very valid) observation, without acknowledging how those original comments were then discussed, and how miguel came to decide that he would becaome part of the "solution." </p>

<p>Really, what hnubi was doing was taking one last "swipe" at Tulane as he walked out the door. That is not fair comment, it is a cheap shot.

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<p>wow.
am i some how obligated to read through this whole post? Are you serious? </p>

<p>I simply agree with his first, original post; i don't think it matters that somehow after talking to you, the parents, he/she has changed her comment.</p>

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My problem with hnubi's post is that he really wasn't trying to raise awareness, offer solutions, or even get out of the way.

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<p>and again i'm obligated to do so because? So apparently i am wrong because i agree with the original post? Wow really narrow minded if you ask me. I am simply stating what i believe to be true. And it is true that tulane lack diversity.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Really, what hnubi was doing was taking one last "swipe" at Tulane as he walked out the door. That is not fair comment, it is a cheap shot.

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what's not fair about stating that tulane lack diversity. </p>

<p>The truth is that Tulane does lack diversity. How odd of you to state anything besides that.</p>

<p>It seems to me that you are taking a swipe at me. Very hypocritical if i may say so myself. I mean all i simply did was agree with the "original post" that tulane lack diversity. After my opinion about the lack of diversity, you called me a problem? Seriously now. It seems like you're the one dishing out, as you would say it, "cheap shots".</p>

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<p>That Miguel ultimately chose a course of conduct which you applaud or endorse doesn't mean that everyone who agrees w/ Miguel's initial statement must do the same. Hnbui was obviously troubled by Tulane's lack of diversity and rather than helping, he has decided to "get out of the way" (your option #2). His decision to leave Tulane, however, neither renderes him incompetent to comment on his experience there nor converts his negatives opinions to "cheap shots."</p>

<p>As for the duty to act, not sure I agree w/ imposing more of a duty on those who see a problem and raise awarness than those who stick their heads in the sand (that's why ignorance of the law is no excuse).</p>

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<p>hnbui: It was once believed that the world was flat. So, by your logic, I guess it matters little what came after that thought, as long as you agree with the original statement.</p>

<p>And, yes, reading the whole thread is a good idea if you are interested in education, or educating. </p>

<p>nyc, if he had read the whole thread (which he admits he did not), and came to the opinion himself, it would be fine. Instead, he jumped on some else's statement without any indpendent thought. Moreover, this is not new for hnubi -- I invite to go to the archives and read his Tulane posts of last year -- before he was even a student.</p>

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<p>The shape of the world is a fact, not an opinion. Whether Tulane is sufficiently diverse for Miguel or hnbui or any other poster is an opinion.</p>

<p>I also think it's ok if only one part of the thread resonates w/ a reader/poster.</p>

65

<p>Well apparently hnbui can't have his panties in too much of a bunch over diversity issues because he is leaving Tulane for even less diverse Cornell</p>

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<p>wow, i'm surprised, tulane has MORE than 120 countries represented? Can you give me the list? i'd really be interested in knowing that 121st country that somehow beat out cornell. just in my hallway, next to me is a latino (she's and a friend just down the hall is in a LATINO sorority) next to her is a 37 year old reformed delinquent ward of NYS, next to her is a lithuanian girl who's parents are were both in the navy, a chinese girl, and a passionate theatre major from North Carolina. Cornell doesn't lack in diversity, she celebrates it, with 3 program houses dedicated to spread the latino, black, AND native american interests and fascinating culture. On top of that, there is also a house for internationals where they regular put on fashion shows from all over the world. </p>

<p>Besides racial/ethnic diversity, cornell may seem a little ... rich? i guess, but I have never seen it. Many of my friends and I receive FULL aid, and I only know one girl who's parent's are paying for all her tuition, and guess what? she STILL works because rather than leeching off of her parents, she exemplifies cornell's adage that work and school can go hand in hand. We have a scholarship program called the Cornell Tradition where they STRESS community service (at least 75 hours, although I put in well over 200 hours) and WORK (at least 250 hours not including summer/year) and ACADEMIC. Yes, there are your shares of hooty-tooties at cornell, but you'll see many more that are not. Being half state-subsidized, with half of it's property outside of beatiful Ithaca (in NYC, and qatar), it is not hard to see why cornell attracts such a DIVERSE population. </p>

<p>I'm not saying Tulane is less diverse than Cornell, but I hope this post can show you at least a little glimpse that to say Cornell is less diverse than Tulane is a very ignorant comment.</p>

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<p>Cornell has a whooping 635 Blacks and 708 Hispanics among its 13,616 undergraduates. That is almost -wow let me do the math 9.8% Boy that is diversity for you.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.xap.com/gotocollege/campustour/undergraduate/243/Cornell_University/Cornell_University6.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.xap.com/gotocollege/campustour/undergraduate/243/Cornell_University/Cornell_University6.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Horribly pale Tulane's comparable number is 11.8%. </p>

<p>Oh yeah and wonderfully divers Cornell which sits in the Finger Lakes homeland of the Iroqouis has all of 64 Native Americans enrolled as undergraduates so I guess they can probably all fit into that house you were referring to.</p>

<p>The point here isn't to mock or knock Cornell which is an excellent school. The point is if you are leaving Tulane to go Cornell it isn't so you can wind up somewhere with a lot more diversity because the fact is you are going to wind up in another very wealthy very White school. The principle difference is Cornell is in a very White town in a very White part of the country. Tulane on the other hand sits in one of the most culturally diverse cities in America.</p>

<p>Make whichever choice you want for good reasons or bad but don't kid yourself about what these places look like outside of the advertising literature. The numbers are published and available to everyone.</p>

68

<p>
[quote]
hnbui: It was once believed that the world was flat. So, by your logic, I guess it matters little what came after that thought, as long as you agree with the original statement.</p>

<p>And, yes, reading the whole thread is a good idea if you are interested in education, or educating. </p>

<p>nyc, if he had read the whole thread (which he admits he did not), and came to the opinion himself, it would be fine. Instead, he jumped on some else's statement without any indpendent thought. Moreover, this is not new for hnubi -- I invite to go to the archives and read his Tulane posts of last year -- before he was even a student.

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<p>let's dissect this post. :) </p>

<p>
[quote]
hnbui: It was once believed that the world was flat. So, by your logic, I guess it matters little what came after that thought, as long as you agree with the original statement.

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<p>First off what logic? I'm not sure how stating my opinion about a fact involves any logic. Is it not true that tulane lacks diversity? Yes, I and many of the other students who is currently attending or has attended the school will say so. Your pseudo-primary "experience" with the numbers they publish on the website does not qualify you as a person with great knowledge pertaining to the diversity of the student body.</p>

<p>Are you trying to make an arguement? Because i think you should take more time in making your stance; it's kind of shaky right now if you know what i mean. ;)</p>

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[quote]
And, yes, reading the whole thread is a good idea if you are interested in education, or educating.

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<p>really? Maybe i am dumb. I mean i have by no means mastered your superior usage of logic, but i really do nto see any correlation with education and reading the whole post. Is there a radical study about this somewhere. I would be delighted to read it- or is it just one of those things people say when they can't form a stable arguement?</p>

<p>
[quote]
nyc, if he had read the whole thread (which he admits he did not), and came to the opinion himself, it would be fine. Instead, he jumped on some else's statement without any indpendent thought.

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I agreed with the original post. So i guess by your superior logic agreeing with someone's post is "WRONG"- a big no no maybe? </p>

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[quote]
Moreover, this is not new for hnubi -- I invite to go to the archives and read his Tulane posts of last year -- before he was even a student.

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<p>whereas? How i stated that the science classes where big even for a 400 level course? Was that not true? How i stated that new orleans has alot of crime. Is that not also true. </p>

<p>I mean it seems so odd to me that someone from out of state who spend a few days in new orleans would even know how much crime the city has compared to someone who has lived here for many years. One could even say that the person who has lived in new orleans for many years is a more reliable source than a person who had visited a few days.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Well apparently hnbui can't have his panties in too much of a bunch over diversity issues because he is leaving Tulane for even less diverse Cornell

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<p>i never state that my main purpose for transferring was on diversity. I transfered for other reasons. The truth is that cornell offers many more resources than tulane.</p>

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<p>i'm sorry, i guess only blacks and latinos make up a minority population and only they can add to diversity at a school. I guess foreign nationals, asians, and other non-whites don't add to diversity.</p>

<p>i'll relate this to one of my classes, Russia actually has ONE of the HIGHEST HIV+ new cases, but because it is such a BIG country, their rate is LOW. even estonia's rate is higher. does that mean estonia has a bigger problem? according to your logic yes, because the percentage is higher.</p>

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<p>hnubi: I will reiterate -- good luck to you.</p>

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<p>Foreign nationals and Asian-Americans are not under represented minorities. In fact Cornell probably has a defacto cap on the number of Asian-Americans it accepts just like the one it once had on Jewish Americans but that is another issue.</p>

<p>Anyway best of luck at Cornell. It is an excellent school and has a beautiful campus. Do pack a coat though - it is a tad chill in January.</p>

73

<p>Unfortunately, the Tulane board reminds me of a high school cafeteria.</p>

74

<p>Wow, this is kind of sad. Just curious though, I keep hearing parents on this board saying how Tulane is addressing diversity, but can anyone tell me how? Are they making a concerted effort to recruit more minorities or is this just pompous talk from the Tulane administration in order to appear as if they are concerned about diversity? When I went for accepted students day a monthh ago I was probably one of about four minorities in the entire room. That's not very encouraging.</p>

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<p>Vicks546, I don't really have an answer for you on that. I have no idea how many offers of admissions or scholarships were made to minorities in relation to how many attended. Perhaps someone has dug up that information.</p>

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<p>vicks546: I think this entire thread both addresses the steps that Tulane has taken, and the great distance it still must travel, to reach more beneficial racial and ethnic mix at the school. And, as we discussed with Miguel, along with the schools offer of admission and financial aid, it takes some amount of bravery or desire for minorities to come to a school like Tulane, or other racially-unbalanced schools, for any real change to occur.</p>

<p>After some real soul-searching, miguel chose to accept the offer of admission. Other may not. In the end it is an individual decision that each student must make. My hope is that students like Miguel will come back to this forum and have positice comments to make concerning his experience at Tulane. Only then will you have an answer as to how truly invested Tulane is in increasing its diversity.</p>

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<p>I reviewed the thread. I see several posts stating that Tulane is trying to increase diversity and another where the poster's H discussed diversity w/ adcon, but noting specific.</p>

<p>Also, Cdad, change certainly requires a leap of faith on the part of URMs, but it also requires a change in attitude on the part of the majority community.</p>

78

<p>Not to undermine the beauty of a good debate or anything, but hasn't this gotten a little bit out of hand? Parents fighting with students, students fighting with parents. Let it lie, guys. This thing has been going on for long enough and all anyone is doing is picking each other apart. Why not stop debating over who is right and just deal with it if you don't like it and keep your glee to yourself if you do? No one is going to win this, obviously.</p>

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<p>nyc, I am in agreement with what you say: change is required on the part of the dominant culture as well as the leap of faith taken by those URMs that accept the challenge.</p>

<p>And, it is interesting that this very same issue is a "white hot" issue at the U. of Oregon, and its College of Education. Rallies, boycotts, and lots of finger-pointing going on a state flagship U.</p>

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<p>I am a little mystified why Tulane should come under particular attack for lack if diversity when its overall URM enrollment is virtually identical to what you see at its peer institutions. The problem isn't that these schools don't want to enroll Black, Hispanic, and Native American kids but rather that the available pool of well qualified students based on test score, GPAs andAP and IB courses taken is woefully small. By the time that pool is picked over by the Ivy's, elite LACs, and historically Black-Ivy's like Howard and Spellman what is left are either relatively risky admits or very financially needy admits.</p>

<p>If schools like Tulane - with selective admissions and filled with highly qualified students take risky admits - kids who show promise but haven't had the best preparation and can't graduate them what kind of criticism will they be in for then? Or alternatively what does it do to your already high tuition if the admits all require huge amounts of financial aid and or counseling and prep courses? Lets face it. If you are a URM who fell in the middle of Tulane's matriculating class with a 1350 SAT and the top 10% of your HS class you would be a prime candidate for admission to the very top most selective colleges in America.</p>

<p>In 2002 African Americans composed 5.6% of the entering freshman class at the 159 most selective schools in the country. In 1999 and the numbers probably haven't changed much only 1400 African Americans scored over 1300 on the SATs. The 8 Ivy's could have sucked up this entire pool of kids - 10% of the total number of kids they enrolled and African Americans would still have been under-rolled as a percentage of the population. The numbers for Latinos is not a lot better.</p>

<p>There is no simple solution for the colleges and there is no way of increasing diversity without sacrificing other goals. The question isn't do you WANT diversity the question is what are you willing to give up to get it. It is easy for the rich who can afford to pay and the poor who can't and won't to say raise tuition to pay the costs.</p>