Such as CofC’s “Simply the Best” and USC’s “special” luncheon
To improve yield. Once they have accepted you, they know you have options and want you to feel comfortable and choose them. Part of that comfort is being in a group of other minorities, so you are not lost in a sea of “majorities”. The term “under-represented” is literal. The schools want it to be “proportionately represented”, and with qualified candidates.
Thank you and I suppose that makes some sense. But I also suppose that it’d be a bit awkward.
I hope it would not be awkward. Part of success in any part of life is feeling like part of a community. There are many of these communities, each having community-building gatherings. Sports recruits are invited to exclusive events, LGBT centers have events, departments have events, Regents Scholars have events. It is important that you find one or more ways to fit in to a smaller community within the larger whole. Each community feels unfairly elite (thus “awkward”), but the school will strive to find a way for each student to belong to at least ONE community. If the “minority” affiliation feels wrong- don’t attend. But DO find some “tribe” or community of like-minded students where you feel comfortable and can hang out and be yourself.
This thread is a perfect example of “why”:
The colleges are trying to improve their yield as already mentioned. Students have valid concerns and actually visiting the campus, meeting potential classmates, having an opportunity to engage with other URMs that already attend the school, and being exposed to the types of support systems and ECs available at the school can help a student decide if they can envision themselves there.
Okay… I understand where they’re coming from. I just thought it was weird that it was a gathering solely of black people; it’s sort of like let’s put a bunch of black people in a room together and hope they become friends and bond over being a minority.
My college had a program for all students of color, AA, Asian, Latino, NA. For a good number of us, it was just a great time to get to campus and scout out things and get acclimated before the huge rush of upperclassmen and other freshmen. For some students, it greatly helped them. I recall a young Mexican American woman from TX. She clearly was struggling in our New England environment and the social and academic pressures. I suspect she hadn’t left her small town bubble before boarding the plane to go to our Ivy college. People befriended her but after about 6 weeks, she withdrew. If that was one end of the spectrum, I believe many others got a lot out of the pgm. It’s only weird if you make it so. I had a blast and made friends w/ppl I probably wouldn’t have met so easily on our campus
I understand, I suppose I should attend the program because the school I’m going to is predominately white and I’d like to meet other students of color.
It’s good b/c you’ll meet other students of color who hail from both extremes – coming from mostly white background and some coming from mostly black/asian/latino or mixed-ethnicity backgrounds. (I was an oddball – I was almost always the only minority – I’m Chinese who grew up in Detroit – my entire context was middle class black american. It was strange to go to a school with many Asians – frankly, with many whites! My culture shock was an odd one! hahaha)
Some schools talk about their diversity, but when you walk the campus, you don’t see/feel it. I suppose it’s a way of the school saying, “you’re not the only one here”. I think it can backfire, depending on how they present it.
UCLA had a similar event for the engineering majors. I’m generalizing here, but being in a large group with people of color assimilates the student of to the university family and its ties. Our Mexican American families tend to follow the student and potluck at every opportunity. Seeing the campus “potlucks” was homey.
African american students are a small percentage of every college and even more so at elite schools. Diversity open houses and similar programs are ways for universities to reach out to under represented minorities to let them know that their school values diversity. This is very important!
Once you arrive on campus, you will see that 94% or more of the students do not look like you nor have a similar cultural background. That opens the door to meeting people from all over the world. It also can lead to a feeling of isolation.
Our D attended UVA’s “Fall Fling” at it was spectacular. The students from UVA who spoke about campus life were so polished that it made every prospective student appropriately intimidated and every parent proud of the next generation of leaders. 
Finally, our D’s overarching feeling at the diversity day was that it was surreal. She’s so used to being “different” as a high achieving african american student in a predominately white school. Going to UVA’s Fall Fling and seeing that there was literally hundreds of kids just like her was both comforting and inspiring. She’s not alone. We knew that as parents but she now knows it too. She’s seen people just like her. That was invaluable.
If you have a chance to attend any of these programs, you will be glad that you did.
Look at it this way…if it was a school (or major within that school) that was predominantly male, would it seem weird to have a gathering of the small amount of women on campus (or women within that particular major)? How about a gathering of students with children at a traditional campus (where most of the students didn’t have children)? Whatever the “minority” is on that campus, forming support groups can be very reassuring.