As of right now my friends and I are having a discussion on the topic of diversity at Whitman College. It is remarkably sad to see that we are three of the five Black students in the class of 2018. The efforts that are made to increase diversity on this campus are not sufficient. Until the so called heads of the school or admissions goes into that town where non affluent people live, it won’t change. I believe that most of the “colored” people here are apart of a varsity sport here. That’s all due to the coaches efforts of reaching out to those types of kids who come from those areas, not the admission officers.
And why is this an issue for you? One reason why Whitman has a small African-American student population because Black high school students in the Pacific Northwest are selecting other options. Whitman is a very fine college but it competes with other very good colleges, like Willamette, Reed, Lewis & Clark for for accomplished black high school students. Small-town eastern Washington isn’t for everyone. Just like Spokane (Gonzaga) isn’t for everyone. Also, many black students in the Pacific Northwest prefer U Washington, Western Washington U and WSU.