<p>A friend recommended Warren Wilson. I checked the web site and it looks like a great program for D2 (who is a Hampshire/Bard/Guilford type of student) - - except for the fact that the black enrollment is only 1%. That means only 8 black students on campus!!</p>
<p>Both the percentage and the absolute number are lower than at many other NC colleges/uni. I understand the 1% black enrollment at UVM or even Colorado College - - but it seems really odd in NC (though nearby UNC - Asheville is only 3% black, but with an enrollment of 3300 that means 100 students).</p>
<p>I'm sure the campus is perfectly hospitable, but I just don't think D2 would be comfortable spending four years as the only black girl in her class or one of four or five black girls on campus.</p>
<p>Any chance the 1% number is a misprint? Or is there some reason for few black students?</p>
<p>My daughter is a student there and this is a very good question and you should raise it with admissions - Let us know what they say.</p>
<p>A little perspective first. Warren Wilson is very very small. Less than 900 students. In the whole school. Only 16% are from NC. The majority are from the Northeast - although Va and Tenn are well represented.</p>
<p>WWC is a "niche" school. Most of the kids end up there because they are interested in the environment and/or are "socially" active.
My daughter heard about the school when she put Environmental science down as a possible major on the SAT's.</p>
<p>I know they have a rather small endowment - they are not a rich school by any means but being so small I suspect their marketing budget is small as well. </p>
<p>The kids that go there are great kids. I don't think the school or the kids are racist or desire to keep black students out.</p>
<p>Just to be clear, I did state in my original post that I assumed the campus was hospitable (ie: not racist). And I know that it is a small school (if 1% =8 students then total enrollment would be around 800).</p>
<p>I also know that most students are from out of state, but all of the contig states have signif black populations. The same is true for the top feeder states (as listed on the school web page): Virginia; Pennsylvania; Florida; Georgia and New York. </p>
<p>Interesting that you say it's a "niche" school, education (D2's interest) is listed as the most popular major.</p>
<p>I will call the admissions office tomorrow - - in the meantime, I was just checking to see whether there was something I was overlooking.</p>
<p>By "niche" I mean the students that they attract. The school has a very strong focus on sustainability and the environment. Most/many students embrace a hippie-type, free thinking lifestyle. The school attracts a "certain type" of student - that is not to say a black student cannot be that type or fit in.
The significant black populations in New York and Pennsylvania are in the inner cities - not from suburban or rural areas. </p>
<p>I am not sure where you saw education is the most popular major - it could be. The website says the top three are environmental science, English and outdoor leadership. Warren</a> Wilson College Fast Facts</p>
<p>Sorry if you took my post wrong - I know you don't think the school/student body is racist or excluding black students. The school has a strong ties to Appalaichia and I think markets mostly in that area which has a fairly white population.
If your daughter is interested, she should visit. The school is very unique and offers some very interesting work, service learning and study abroad experiences.</p>
<p>Hmm - - even the "hippie" niche doesn't explain the numbers. Guilford, Hampshire and Bard (mentioned in my orig post) appeal to similar students and all have larger percentages of black students (I'm not talking about the absolute number b/c Warren Wilson is such a small school).</p>
<p>As for education, I know that the teacher educat program is being over-hauled; but Princeton Review list education as one of the most popular majors.</p>
<p>We plan to visit NC (UNC - Asheville, High Point, Elon, Guilford, etc.) but we are unlikely to visit Warren Wilson if the 1% figure is correct. I am fairly flexible about racial composition, but only 8 black students on campus is outside my limit.</p>
<p>Living in NC (and not that far from the mountains) I can say that WWC is not very well know here. Like JustAMom, I have heard it described as a "hippie" sch. that only certain types (outdoorsy environmentally conscious) are attracted to My S is a senior and he's never heard of WWC (I just yelled across the hall and asked him,lol). S's high school has a large black population. He has a lot of black friends from playing football for four years. All that he knows are going to state schools. With NC's great public university system, the large majority of kids (of every color) look to our state schools first.</p>
<p>PackMom, couldn't agree w/ you more about the quality of UNC school and students (in-state and out) looking there before NC privates. That explains the 15% oos, but not the 1% black enrollment.</p>
<p>Here is a portion of a report from the college president from Sept 2007:
[quote]
As previously announced, the college has broadened its efforts toward diversity and multiculturalism with the appointment of Rodney Lytle as Director of Multicultural Affairs. To provide further support for Rodney’s office, we’ll continue to have a Diversity Task Force (DTF) in place for another year, along with a second committee—one focused on multicultural programming—chaired by Rodney. This week I’ll send out invitations for membership for the coming year’s DTF. Chaired by Dean of Students Cathy Kramer, the DTF will serve in an advisory capacity to me, as I collaborate with Rodney to continue promoting a diverse and multicultural workplace and learning environment at Warren Wilson College. Specifically, the DTF will examine campus policies, practice, and culture as they relate to diversity and will make recommendations as appropriate.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I know that promoting diversity takes money - the school does not spend a lot of money on marketing. The school is run on a shoestring. Perhaps in the past diversity was not promoted.<br>
The president is fairly new - two years - and it sounds like he is very interested in promoting diversity.<br>
Colleges do not become diverse overnight - it takes work.<br>
Honestly minority students have a lot of options. Colleges everywhere are looking to diversify - it can be challenging to increase numbers.</p>
<p>I don't know anything about Woodrow Wilson, but as a general observation, enrolling a diverse class requires a commitment by the school AND investment of significant resources. Diversity is expensive, for many reasons.</p>
<p>Warren Wilson tends to attract kids from the hippie subculture, and in my experience (having known a lot of hippies), the hippie subculture is pretty white. I imagine there are historical and sociocultural reasons for this, but I don't know what they are.</p>
<p>And, to the extent that most schools market disproportionately or are disproportionately known in their local area, it's worth remembering that Appalachia is extremely white.</p>
<p>I know a kid who goes to the school (an Asian, incidentally), and it is a very unusual school in many respects. I would not expect its student body to be broadly representative at all. I find it highly unlikely that minority students are discriminated against in admissions; it's much more likely that few apply.</p>
<p>From statistical point of view you just hit small numbers here. 8 can be a random fluctuation from 2 or even 3%. Another possibility is that black kids are reluctant to aply to a small school with very few black kids. The only way to break this circle is to become the ninth black student in this schol.</p>
<p>I know graduates of Warren Wilson who are successful writers. The atmosphere has a retreat feel for artists. The Asheville area is a cross between Appalachian beauty and peacefulness and the sort of money one sees being spent in a successful retirement/recreational town. There are many working artists making a living in Asheville...so creative people are everywhere in all genres. Downtown is charming and full of galleries. Asheville is not only surrounded by scores of high quality summer camps for young people and major denominational camps of all kinds due to the glories of the Pisgah Forest and surrounds, it is also a place where people are retiring and building beautiful homes, spending money and recreating. Many towns in mountainous parts of the East Coast envy Asheville's success economically. There is a branch of UNC in Asheville as well.<br>
I don't know anything about their efforts to obtain racial diversity, but I will comment on Asheville's enviable transformation to a town that is attracting people from all over the country for retirement.</p>
<p>(1) If other parents and students of color react the way you have, it would be very difficult for the college to change anything, no matter how much it would like to. I'm sure some colleges have used endowments and financial aid to attract minority students, but Warren Wilson may not be in that league financially.</p>
<p>(2) In my experience, African-American students and their parents tend to be very conservative in educational terms. They are attracted to rigor, discipline, requirements, and sports, and more freeform, roll-your-own educational structures are a hard, hard sell.</p>
<p>I feel a bit sad reading this thread. I don't discount at all the difficulty of being one of four or five black women (or men) in an entire college, especially one that was in a largely white, rural area. So maybe you are right to cross Warren Wilson off your list on that basis alone, even if it would seem like a good fit in other respects. On the other hand, I hope you do contact the college and give them an opportunity to make their pitch to you and your daughter. It may not be successful, but both they and you, probably, will learn something in the process, and that's how change gets a toehold.</p>
<p>You all have put into words what I could not.
JHS - yes I think you have hit the nail on the head with both of your points.</p>
<p>My #2 kiddo is a junior here and I had never heard of the school before she was sent information. Information which incidentally stuck out for her from hundreds of mailings. She was interested because the school is "different" and "different" it is.
There is a requirement of service and work that does not fit in with the lifestyle of many college students.</p>
<p>I would urge nyc - if you are going to be in Asheville anyway - to stop by and take a look. Like JHS says check it out.
This school is not for everyone - regardless if you are white, black, asian, rich or poor. The attraction comes from who you are, not what you are.</p>
<p>WWC is very accepting of all sexual orientations, those who don't like wearing clothes and those who do - they do have rules about wearing clothes. Stereotypically, they are a bunch of liberal free spirits who work for social justice and the environment.
While my own daughter does not exactly fit all the sterotypes of the WWC student she does fit in.
More than anything - I have found the school and it's culture to be ACCEPTING of everyone. - well, except for Republicans.</p>
<p>"The only way to break this circle is to become the ninth black student in this schol."</p>
<p>Why would anyone advise a parent to send his D as bait to a school where D might understandably be uncomfortable? I'm sure it's difficult for a college with fewer than 10 black students on campus (and in an area a number of posters have described as very White) to attract black students, but if the school wants diversity, it's the schools responsibility to attract/recruit students from diverse backgrounds. </p>
<p>Families bypass great schools for any number of personal reasons - - no hockey team, lousy hockey team, too far from home, too close to home, not co-ed, lopsided male:female. If OP and D want racial diversity (or critical mass), WWC is probably not a good fit. That's not to say it's not a good school.</p>
<p>Three questions: </p>
<p>If the issue were hockey would posters would tell OP and D "enroll and start a hockey team" or " the only way they'll attract stronger hockey players is if strong players like you D/S enroll?" </p>
<p>Isn't OP correct that other "hippie" schools have much larger black enrollment, even if "hippie culture is predominately White?</p>
<p>Why do posters keep saying how accepting the school is when that was not OP's concern?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Why do posters keep saying how accepting the school is when that was not OP's concern?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I would guess the answer to that question is that since the concern apparently *is *the number, and will be the number no matter what anyone says, then there's no way to address that. The number is what it is; why ask the question if there is no suitable answer?</p>
<p>"If the issue were hockey would posters would tell OP and D "enroll and start a hockey team" or " the only way they'll attract stronger hockey players is if strong players like you D/S enroll?" "</p>
<p>Well, sure they would, if the OP had said, "I really love this school, except for the weak hockey program."</p>