My D19 just came home today from a diversity fly-in at Smith and had some positive things to say. One thing that took her aback was what she described as segregation. I’m interested in anyone’s experiences with this at Smith or the other women’s colleges she’s considering: Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Scripps and possibly Mount Holyoke.
Thanks!
Do you mean what’s referred to as “self segregation?” Or some sort of avoidance by other groups?
She says mainly self… but her opinion is that the white Smithies don’t actively gravitate/try to get to know the WOC, and the WOC Smithies seemed to actively avoid the white Smithies. She thought that the WOC even broke down further – Asians together, Latinas together, African Americans together, etc. This is not easy for her because she has friends at home from different racial groups.
We were visiting there the day before WOD. My impression (and I was looking for it specifically) was that Smith had more mixing than my kid’s high school does. But yes, most of the groups I saw around campus were segregated. The mixed groups I saw tended to be two kids, not larger groups.
FWIW, Mount Holyoke felt more diverse to me, but we spent a lot less time on that campus, and I had fewer opportunities to see groups interacting.
My kid liked both Smith and Mount Holyoke, and thought she would be happy at either school, but found them to be very, very different.
I think it is more common at all schools than one would like. My daughter attended a school with a pretty good racial mix because it has a lot of international students, but there was very little mixing. She is Asian, and all her friends were white because her sports team was white (she was the only minority). I asked her about it and she said she tried to work on projects with some international students but language was a problem.
My son has commented that as his private high school the students self segregate. The internationals hang with one another speaking their own language and the students of color choose to eat lunch and socialize with one another as well. He says when they have free time, the internationals and students of color choose to be with like people.
I can’t comment on Smith but in general I’ve noticed good mixing plus diversity at Mt. H and BMC and Barnard. Like when we went to visit our first women’s college – with a background of a large NYC public high school and this daughter’s rainbow of friends, I attempted to prep her and said: you know it’s not going to look very diverse, right? Boy was I wrong. It was refreshing and exciting to see the mix of students walking around the campuses of the women’s colleges we visited.
All of the schools you mention make it clear that they want to have diverse, highly engaged populations.
I don’t have any definitive answers about this, but I can share a couple of observations.
My DD is a white sophomore at Smith. She has diverse friends, especially in her club activities (mainly a dance company).
She did notice that the way Smith does this – with the WoD program before admission, and then the Bridge orientation for POC before the rest of the students arrive – means that POC meet and establish friendships before the rest of the students arrive. So, these programs are supportive and they are a great experience for students, but they may create affinities that look a lot like self-segregation.
One compare/contrast for Mt. Holyoke and Smith is that MHC has at least 11 “affinity housing” options. A number of these are based on ethnicity, race or language, although they are open to anyone who allies. My DD found this to be a turn-off because she felt that it promoted self-segregation. Smith has resisted doing this sort of affinity housing, but a fair number of the students are pressuring the administration to start.
D is white and US citizen, but her group of friends from MHC come literally from all over the world. Every couple of years they get together, really nice affinity for the school and the friendships they have forged.
My daughter’s friend group at Mt Holyoke is incredibly diverse. She is actually in one of the living learning communities @pauler80020 mentions.
Also, a number of women’s colleges recruit Posse Scholars (although I couldn’t speak to the size /racial makeup of that pool of students.) Those kids will arrive on campus already bonded and will be placed together in housing, as the point of the scholarship is to provide a peer support system from the beginning.
FWIW, none of the women’s colleges mentioned here are on the Top 20 “Lots of Race/Class Interaction” list from Princeton Review. To be fair, none of them are on the Top 20 “Little Race/Class Interaction” list either. Not sure if that’s helpful.
We lost electricity on my wife’s 50th birthday, so ate dinner in the dinning hall while picking up my daughter at Mount Holyoke. I did notice many of the Asian students sitting together, and the Equestrian team sitting together, it was hard not to notice. Her first semester she spent most of her time with her room mate. Now she has a bigger diverse group of friends and her group of friends would look exactly like the brochures every college has to look diverse. In other words, in this case, it’s legit.
I just asked her and her response affirmed my response. She’s home for break and wants to go back now, she misses her school and friends, she likes it that much, or is just sick of us ; ) She said first year students tend to sit with other students who speak the same first language, but they spread out as time goes by.
She said the student of color assimilate quicker if they are on a sports team. Not sure if this pertains to other extracurriculars.
One thing not really part of your question but I wanted to add, she said she knows many of her classmates are wealthy, but you don’t really know who they are.
I would take it seriously. If she’s flagging it, it’s probably going to an ongoing issue for her. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. Personally, I have spoken very frankly with my kids about this aspect of going to college. I was very uncomfortable with the level of segregation at my small liberal arts college (I’m white). Two of my kids are the only white kids at their schools so a place like Smith would be a huge adjustment.
My DD is a white “Firstie” (freshman) at Smith. Of her like 7 close friends, two are Asian and one is African-American. None are international, who she’s said do self-segregate. I suspect the amount of diversity depends on the activities, clubs, and sports one does. DD does a lot of theatre and comes into contact with a diverse set of students. I also suspect at Smith it can depend on what House you’re in. Some may be more diverse than others.
At Mt Holyoke, the uber-wealthy internationals tend to self-segregate, I believe.
“Diversity” means different things for different people and is defined differently as well. MHC is actually not very diverse in terms of professors and administrators and is very unsupportive of students of color. Smith as well. Many International students are unhappy at MHC. MHC can also be very isolating in the winter time because of the location, weather and coldness of the campus- very Gothic looking. Some of the staff are as cold as the weather there…BRRRRR
My daughters immediate friend group at Mt Holyoke includes her roommate from Viet Nam, two friends from China,a friend from Shri Lanka, and two from the states. All very happy and its a tight knot group… I am thrilled mine has made connections in this big world. Mine was specifically looking for diversity.