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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.
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<p>Why do you assume that his D would be "bait". that is a rather harsh statement.<br>
Yes - if racial diversity is desired then go to Temple Univeristy - which has the most diverse campus. You make an assumption that this student would be uncomfortable. I am not sure that is a correct assumption to make. It might be true but it might not be true.</p>
<p>I am sure there are plenty of high schools with a 1% black population where the few black students do quite well and are not looked on as "bait". </p>
<p>The points I was trying to make are:
1. There is a difference between not admitting black students and black admitted student not enrolling or even applying.
2. The college is not going to change their culture, mission or "who they are" to become more racially diverse. I am not sure if they can. For instance, if being more racially diverse means they would have to eliminate the work requirement or service requirement then that would not happen.
They can encourage black students to apply and enroll. What most colleges do to encourage diversity is entice minority students with money, special programs etc. WWC being a small, rural liberal arts college is not in a position to compete with those type of enticements.</p>
<p>WWC is not really to be compared with Bard or Hampshire. Both are in the NE and have much larger resources. Neither has a requirement that all students must pay for part of their tuition by working 15 hours a week.</p>
<p>WWC is MORE than a college with a hippie culture - it is very close to a commune and communal living. This only appeals to a very small number of kids.</p>
<p>WWC is mostly compared with Berea College in Kentucky which has a more significant minority student body - but that college is free to low income students.</p>
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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?"
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<p>absolutely - how do you think hockey teams get started?</p>
<p>"They can encourage black students to apply and enroll. What most colleges do to encourage diversity is entice minority students with money, special programs etc. WWC being a small, rural liberal arts college is not in a position to compete with those type of enticements."</p>
<p>They could also improve PR and outreach to minorities--that's probably what they will in fact do.</p>
<p>This illustrates how hard it is to change the status quo.</p>
<p>My daughter for example- attended a private elementary school that had a lot of money ( they have even more now with the current parents)
We are lowish income blue collar, uneducated ( no college, I didn't graduate high school) - so even though we are Caucasian, she added diversity to the school. ( with the help of generous financial aid)</p>
<p>The school was small, had started as a pilot preschool program, but when the Harvard grant ran out, the teachers and parents kept it going.
When she began, it was prek-2nd grade. ( she was 6)
When she reached 5th grade, it was the first year that they had , had enough students stay for 5th grade to have a " graduating class".
( I think they had about 8 or 9 students)
This was despite their money and despite the excellent program.
It was hard for parents to not be able to look ahead and see the future.
Nothing was in place, so hard to predict.
I expect the same regarding minority students.
If you are a minority, and are looking at a school where you have interest, you want a school that matches most of your criteria.
Hard to attract diversity, if it doesn't already exist.
This school is in rural NC- even Occidental in Los Angeles is not as diverse as LA and they have a lot more money than Warren Wilson in a more diverse area.</p>
<p>Yes, there are certainly high schools w/ only 1% black enrollment where the black students enroll for the same reasons as White students do: geography, academcis, athletics, etc. My reference (admittedly inflamatory) to bait was in response to post #15: "The only way to break this circle is to become the ninth black student in this schol." To enroll one's D as the 9th black student for the express purpose of attracting black students would be treating her as bait. </p>
<p>Interesting that you correlate watering down the work/service requirement with increasing racial diversity, JustaMomof4. Also, in the case of hockey, for example, schools wishing to start a team or improve a team don't just say, "y'all come;" they offer grants, athletic facilities and special programs as inducements - - all the stuff you say WWC cannot offer minority students. If these are the most commona and most successful means of recruiting students and a school can't offer them (notice, I said "can't," not "won't"), then regardless of stated committment, the status quo is unlikely to change.</p>
<p>Emerk4, I think you said it best - - hard to attract diversity if it doesn't already exist (which is different that blaiming the applicant family - post #16: "If other parents and students of color react the way you have . . . "). </p>
<p>And Garland, while the number is the number, I can see that there might be a totally benign explanation. When D2 was applying to prep schools, one school had what I considered to be "too many" day students. A call to the admissions office revealed that the increase was no more than a blip in one class coinciding with the closing of a local Catholic school - - it did not signal a change in policy, decreasing committment to boarders or a desire to change the boarder:day population ratio. Mystery solved.</p>
<p>I think that it's virtuous for a student to want to be a pioneer in terms of diversity at a school. I like "pioneer" better than "bait," don't you?</p>
<p>The comment that Warren Wilson serves a "niche" market is something of an understatement. This, from the PrincetonReview's "Students Say" link:</p>
<p>The typical WWC undergrad "likes good organic wholesome food, a good local brew and bluegrass on a starry night, is health conscious but smokes hand-rolled cigarettes, dresses in work clothes but accessorizes, recycles, doesn't watch TV, and knows some botanical-ornithological basics." To put it more simply: "This place is a haven for hippies and very left-wing people."</p>
<p>gadad - yes this is the "niche" I was talking about.</p>
<p>They have their own organic farm, grow a lot of their own food. While the school does serve meat- primarily from the Angus herd on campus, they do cater to the vegetarian/vegan crowd and have a vegan cafe. (sort of like kosher vegan?)
They hike, camp, mountainbike and swim in the river. They wear dungarees and hippie skirts. The campus is very "green" they have contests to see which dorm uses the least electricity. Recycling is mandatory. They do not throw anything away. There is a shed where people put things they don't want so other people can take them - glorified dumpster diving? They bird watch. they don't watch TV because there is only one hookup in each dorm. They embrace bluegrass.
They work. They students clean the dorms, clean the cafe and serve and cook food. They unclog toilets, run the farm and change lightbulbs.
Even though the school is Presbyterian many kids celebrate the Winter Solstice and vernal equinox.</p>
<p>They are weird.<br>
Since my d is one of them, I can say this in the most loving sense of the word. Her sibs think she is weird too. </p>
<p>yes - it is a "niche" school - quite unlike Bard and Hampshire whom WWC kids will refer to as wannabe's.</p>
<p>Hunt - African-American bluegrass fans are also being wooed by Evergreen, Reed, Bard, Hampshire, Vassar and Berea. It is tough out there.</p>
<p>Garland, I tend to agree with you - - the numbers are the numbers and they would be too low for me, regardless of explanation. It's not the environment I'd want for my D, and certainly not an experience I'd want to purchase to the tune of $30K/year.</p>
<p>Hunt, "pioneer" is certainly a friendlier and more pleasant term than "bait," but I think the latter is more accurate if the purpose is to lure/attract/induce other black students to enroll. And again, regardless of how you phrase it, not what I'd want for my kid - - and not what most parents want as a college experience for their kids.</p>
<p>But this confuses me. If (a) the school is not discriminating against black students and (b) the program is otherwise attractive to your child, then is the objection that there simply aren't enough black students there for her to feel comfortable? How many is enough? You would prefer another school that has successfully attracted enough black students to serve as effective bait for your own kid? I guess what confuses me is the implication that WW is doing something wrong if it doesn't have enough black students, but that it would also be doing something wrong if it took active steps to get more.</p>
<p>Yes, that is my point precisely - - low black enrollment is sufficient reason for me to bypass an otherwise good school. </p>
<p>For me, "enough" is a fluid term. When my D was applying 4% black was pretty much our minimum, though I guess 3% would have been fine at a larger school where, becasue of the larger base, the absolute number of black students would be large enough.</p>
<p>I never suggested (a) that WWC would be doing something wrong if it took steps to enroll more black students or (b)that the current low number of black students indicates that the school is doing anything wrong. My point was simply that D, who has attended predom White schools her entire life, would not be comfortable on a campus where she was 1 of 8 black students or 1 of 4 black girls or the only black girl in her class/year.</p>
<p>Looking at the composition of a school's student body is not at all uncommon. Families often consider the in/out-of-state ratio; the percentage of students in frats/sororities - - and most often the ratio of male to female students. Many of D's friends wouldn't consider Goucher, Sarah Lawrence, Wells or any of the former women's colleges where women out-number men by as much as 4 to 1. It's just not the social environment the parensts/students want.</p>
<p>I guess it was this statement that gave me pause:</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>If you are a college like WW, what can you do if you really want to increase diversity? I guess you have to find enough black students who don't mind being "bait," or who aren't uncomfortable with small numbers of fellow black students. Then, once you've found enough of those students, you can start to attract those who require larger numbers to feel comfortable.</p>
<p>Hunt, I think if you were WW, you would have to go way out of your way to find black vegetarian kids who are so passionate about the environment and living that lifestyle that they are willing to overlook a lack of other black kids. Perhaps the place to start is to visit high schools in NC and to target kids in high school environmental clubs or environmental programs/ magnets. </p>
<p>I have to tell you that everytime I suggest a HBCU to a white kid, I get ignored. I've never even had anyone give me the benefit of a response. I usually suggest it to kids who want a strong program but have limited money for college and don't require lots of financial aid. (In other words, they won't qualify for much aid but mom and dad can only pay $X.) Yet, many HBCU would be happy to have white kids enroll. </p>
<p>One of my kids attended a school with few black kids. She is very outgoing but soon tired of having to represent 'the black viewpoint' and of having to deal with people's stereotypes. To be honest, dating and hair can be other issues for AA girls in all-white schools but I digress...</p>
<p>From what I've seen, extremely small mainstream colleges don't tend to attract a lot of African Americans because many black students prefer to be on campuses that have major sports and Greek societies and also prefer to be on campuses with larger numbers of black students, something that large universities can provide even if the large universities don't have a high percentage of black students. </p>
<p>New College in Florida is a good example. I think about only 1% of that 800 or so student college is African American. It's a nice college in a very diverse state, but most black students want to go to colleges where there are more black students.</p>
<p>When it comes to a campus like Warren Wilson, the problems are compounded because few African Americans are interested in environmental issues including majoring in environmental sciences.</p>
<p>"If you are a college like WW, what can you do if you really want to increase diversity? "</p>
<p>Some colleges in similar situations have addressed the issue by recruiting from large metro areas with high numbers of students of color. The colleges have found that if, for instance, a cohort of black students is admitted from one city, the students are more likely to attend the college and remain until graduation.</p>
<p>I have been accepted to WW for fall 2013. I have heaerd that it is a big party/drug school with pot being use and other drug use being ignored by school admin. Does anybody know how true this is? If I do not party will I be able to fit in and make friends?</p>
<p>Well, if you pay any attention to the Princeton Review lists, Warren Wilson is #7 on their list of biggest “weed” schools. Here are the others on the list for 2012 in order:</p>
<p>U of Colorado Boulder
U of CA Santa Cruz
Eckerd
Skidmore
Green Mountain
Evergreen State
Warren Wilson
NYU
SUNY Purchase
U of CA Santa Barbara
Bard
WVU
Lewis & Clarke
Colorado College
U of Vermont
Guilford
Ithaca
Sarah Lawrence
Grinnell
Reed</p>
<p>I’m sure that there will be plenty of students who do not use drugs. You just have to search out like minded students to be friends with.</p>