Warning for Students of Color/Women/Queers/Low-Income Students Interested In Colby

@sweetthang13542 You may be confusing me with someone else. I’m totally for you. I don’t think you are assuming anything. My kids have been minorities in their own classrooms, and I know they had real experiences and hated it.

That statistic can’t be true, since over 40% of Colby students receive financial aid. And I can’t imagine any selective school that would have just 10% of students from public schools. And the latest CDS shows 61% of students classified as white, though I suppose a portion of the non-resident aliens would be white as well.

Just pointing this out, because I think your arguments would be more credible without the hyperbole

@wisteria100 You’re right, Colby isn’t 90%white, but looking at stats from 2013 it is at least 70% White, maybe more, which is still overwhelmingly White. Also, many studies have come out recently showing that there is a large gap (one of the largest among American colleges) between the students from the top 1% and the bottoms 60%, which contributes largely to the campus culture.

It must be exhausting, fighting against your environment all the time.

@RecusantSam You have no idea. I have nightmares about Colby and I haven’t been there in months.

You should transfer.

@sweetthang13542 I admire your courage in speaking up. It is not easy for an individual to criticize an institution, and finding a solution is even harder.

As a woman, and a woman of color, you may find the general reception to your observations (once stated) very frustrating. There are well-meaning folks who nod but really have no idea. There are folks who will defend the institution because it always worked for them. (Subtext is you did something wrong or saw something that wasn’t there, etc.)

Reading your long posts, I think I get it. At least, I’ve been laboring on a similar path with frustrations too. It is difficult to accomplish as much as you are capable of when you are carrying twice the weight or swimming against the current. Given that set of circumstances (your subjectivity in this historic/cultural moment,) you have done incredibly well. You’ve also had some help for it (POSSE and more.)

You may very well (no, actually, you WILL) be up against similar negative forces in your life after education. Might as well galvanize yourself for the experience, and try to enjoy your intellectual and other gifts (and those of others) as you go.

Smart is rare. Understanding is rare. Empathy–well, there’s drought in that going on. But I promise you, among your travels you will also make amazing contact with those who get it. Not all of them can help you, but at least you aren’t alone.

If you are miserably alone at Colby, only you can judge whether you should transfer. If it were me, I might be grateful for the gift of a great education, which might be worth finishing there.

Maybe think of yourself meanwhile as an anthropologist doing fieldwork. What you learn about “them” could be useful for understanding and dealing with “them” for the rest of your life: Those closeminded, arrogant, entitled rich people run things. Might as well figure it out.

Then, for graduate school (surely your next step,) look for the most forward-thinking, culturally diverse, brilliant university in a big city in the US or elsewhere in the world. You can find your match in opportunity, allies, and mentors there.

Our world needs people like you, whether or not it knows that yet. sweetthang, go for it!

  1. You are unhappy at your school.
  2. It doesn't look like it can accommodate your many concerns.
  3. You should transfer. Life is too short to spend it tilting at windmills.

@RecusantSam I agree with one of the first responders who pointed out that, at this point as a Junior, sweetthang might not actually transfer.

Yes, life is too short to tilt at windmills–if you have other choices. But if the world is filled with windmills because odds are set against you from birth, then you’d better up your jousting skills.

I know I shouldn’t have but the fact that this book exists surprised me for some reason.

Looking at the data and factoring in your note of 12 black students in 2015, a 15% difference in four year graduation rates is meaningless from a policy perspective as it’s probably one or two students. If one person departed for elsewhere and another took an extra year (the 5/6 year rates indicate this), you’ve accounted for the difference. If I was an administrator, I’d be foolish to make steering/policy decisions based on one or two people. Likewise, as you noticed, the rates essentially converge for years 5 and 6 so I’d argue that this data doesn’t illustrate a problem (possible exception: Latinos).

Put another way, percentages are much significantly more sensitive to a denominator of 12 than they are one of 280.

‘I’ve seen many gorgeous women of color get passed over for mediocre white women.’

Whose standards of beauty are being used here?

‘Many of the people of color here were socialized in whiteness, so they feel that they can be the only black person in their friend group. I have actually had people go out of their way to not talk to or have interactions with me.’

I don’t see the OP taking any responsibility for her difficulties at Colby.

@PetulaClark Exactly what responsibilities should I be taking? What do you want from me?

@sweetthang13542 Hi! I was recently admitted to Hamilton and Colby College and your comments about the college are slightly discouraging considering that I am also a black women. Would you recommend Colby for POC? And is the environment at Colby so toxic that it impacts the overall value of attending?

@mckela316 : I believe you would find the administration and majority of students at Colby to be welcoming and friendly. Nonetheless, I’d recommend you search for the Colby Life documentary for a perspective not available through packaged materials. After viewing it critically, you should be able to make a well-informed decision when considered in the context of your other experiences with Colby.

@mckela316 , we’re you able to attend the admitted students event last week? That is probably a better “read” on this than anything.

@merc81 @gardenstategal I did watch the Colby Life documentary and it was so startling for me that I decided to apply RD instead of ED2. Last week I attended the accepted students program and was really impressed with how organized it was and the student guides. I did visit the Pugh Center to see what people there thought about their experience being a minority was like and generally got a positive response. However, I’m worried that I might not have gotten the full picture, and it’s more similar to how the girl in the documentary and here posted. While for a little while I’ve leaning towards Hamilton, I don’t want to make any rash/wrong decisions about Colby without getting some more opinions on whether it is like what was described in the documentary. Also I don’t want to not go to Colby soley based on my ideas of how they treat minorities because they do have some really good study abroad/internships and environmental studies programs that I’ve heard are more extensive than Hamilton. Sorry for the long response I’m just kinda a confused wreck right now !

I recently read this article on NPR about 100 schools who are making a commitment to enroll more low income students, which could very well include more students of color. Colby is listed as being one of them-
https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/04/18/602260480/100-top-colleges-vow-to-enroll-more-low-income-students

It’s always good to see that top institutions recognize a deficit and collectively work to improve in that area.

I’m sorry that the OP has this experience to report. I hope that going forward good can come from it, both for her and the institution.

@mckela316 :

I wouldn’t regard it as rash or wrong to consider information, such as through a documentary in combination with your experiences during accepted students day, particularly at a time when you might still intelligently apply this information to your decision.

Colby’s environmental studies programs can indeed easily be said to be among the strongest in the nation. However, Hamilton’s ES programs, which are anchored by a strong geosciences department and an Adirondack term, should not be under-regarded. Internationally, Hamilton offers a course with what I think would be a memorable Himalayan component.

At whichever college you choose, you will be a student there as much as any other, so be sure to make it your own.

Wishing you the best of luck!

@merc81 It just kinda hit me this morning that I had no idea where I wanted to go to college so I’ve been going back and forth all day. Thank you very much for the helpful advice and I’ll try to remember that!