Evergreen the
march 5, 2015
Everything Greenhill
volume 50, issue 4
What do we
k
in colleges? Graphic by Sera Tuz
In late April, a junior’s bedroom is littered with college brochures from all edges of the country. These pamphlets showcase big state universities and small liberal arts colleges, and right now, it may seem impossible for this junior to filter through them all. Greenhill’s Mission Statement opens by proclaiming, “Greenhill School is a diverse community.” But when it’s time for students to leave the Hill and create their own mission statements, is diversity something they’re looking for? Out of an Evergreen survey of 52 seniors, 57 percent responded that diversity factored into their college search. The survey broke diversity down into categories of race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic status, and geographic region. When seniors ranked the type of diversity they looked for, 40 percent looked primarily for racial and ethnic diversity, by far the most prioritized subset. Jennifer Kincaid, Director of College Counseling, said that numerous students come to their junior-year meetings citing diversity as an important factor in their college search. “Many Greenhill students care about diversity. Families and students who select Greenhill do so purposefully in that they select a diverse environment, and by diverse I mean that very broadly: in terms of race, religion, nationality, and opinion. I also think it would be wrong to assume that [diversity] is something only students of color care about or students of a minority religion care about,” she said. The search for diversity in colleges is a very personal one. Senior Emily Fine started her college search knowing that diversity was a priority for her. “With diversity comes a lot of different perspectives and opinions. I’ve grown up hearing many different views within my family, and I enjoy that and want to keep that
Views
“Dear Greenhill” and Beyond. p.2
going,” she said. Some students want to meet a variety of unique people with differing worldviews; others look for diversity to ensure that they will find people like them and feel accepted. Emily represents both. “I want people that I can identify with, but I also want to be in an environment where there’s tons of different people, where no one will feel left out,” Emily said. Other students focus on school size, location, academics, and reputation, with diversity figuring low on their list. Of the seniors who responded that diversity did factor into their search, no one ranked it as his or her first or second priority. Out of ten factors ranging from academics to athletics to cost, diversity was only the seventh-mostimportant factor on average.
“
I ask students to consider diversity not just in numbers of bodies but in terms of student support and a college’s willingness to engage in difficult conversation.”
“It wasn’t one of my top priorities when I was looking at the colleges. Yes, it’s important, but to me it was more about majors, size of the college, where it is, and how the student body feels about the college,” said senior Sophie Bradford, who will be attending Rhodes College in the fall. Sophie said that she didn’t really think about diversity until after she applied. “I went on all the websites and was looking at student population, where they’re coming from and who they are. Some of my schools weren’t that diverse, and that’s when I thought, ‘Oh, maybe I should have thought about this,’” she said. “Still, I love my school, so it’s not a huge disappointment.” Ms. Kincaid cautions against using statistics as the only measure of diversity. “It’s important to look beyond the numbers, which are the easiest part of the
News
Serving Greenhill since 1966
The Noise Only Students Can Hear. p. 5.
conversation. You could pull two colleges with have similar [percentages] of students from historically underrepresented groups, but if one school is smaller, the numbers themselves are radically different,” she said. Visiting campus might be a good way to gauge the reality of that school’s diversity. “You can tell a lot about [the school] by who is hanging out. You have to ask yourself, ‘If I was here, would I be able to fit in with this group?’ and looking at those groups, and seeing if they’re diverse enough to meet your expectations is what I want,” said junior Mansi Kumar. But what’s also important is the campus infrastructure, which can be judged by the quantity or quality of various student associations that support diversity. “I ask students to consider diversity not just in numbers of bodies but in terms of student support and a college’s willingness to engage in difficult conversation,” Ms. Kincaid said. Because of this, there is no single type of college that generally harbors the most diversity. “The larger the institution, the more ‘diverse’ it’s going to be. But I also think it’s not always true that the biggest places are the ones most careful with the dialogue,” Ms. Kincaid said. To gauge true diversity, she suggests beginning with the numbers through resources like Naviance and Peterson’s Guide. She then suggests talking to a campus representative, and more importantly, ending by engaging with current students. “Ask if they feel supported and what issues come up. I find that current students are very candid and willing to share their experiences.” Diversity can also be found in unexpected places. Senior Lindsey Ingram knew diversity was a priority for her, saying that she wanted to learn from other cultures throughout her college experience. When she applied to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), she said, “I was a little worried because I have never been to a school where the African-American community is basically all there is. HBCUs
Features
Greenhill Love Tales p. 8.
Arts
reminded me that not all African-American kids are the same. Most people would think that [Howard] wouldn’t be diverse, but there are so many subcultures within the AfricanAmerican community. Diversity isn’t just based on race.” Nor is diversity just based on geographic region. 77 percent of the survey respondents considered Southern schools to be less diverse than their counterparts elsewhere in the country. Junior Renée Smith said, “I want to be surrounded by even more types of people in college. However, I think I want to stay in the South, which is not necessarily the most diverse place.” However, Ms. Kincaid cautions against making those generalizations. “Because the South is so diverse and because so many students consider colleges near home, Southern colleges can be quite diverse.” What matters more is the mission of the school. The mission of state schools is to educate the people of that state, which means that their diversity levels usually mimic the breakdown of the state itself. But for private schools, each school can have a completely different mission, with one school including diversity in its opening statement and another not mentioning it at all. Ultimately, finding a mission statement that you agree with is what matters. “I think college is a time to define yourself and become independent,” said Lindsay Rawitscher ’11, a current student at Northwestern University. Lindsay would argue that even at Greenhill, diversity is something you have to choose. “Greenhill is decently diverse in numbers, especially considering the Dallas, TX, population at large, but the friend groups really aren’t that diverse, at least when I was there they weren’t really,” Lindsay said, reflecting on her time at Greenhill. “I definitely notice more diversity [at Northwestern] and appreciate it so much more. Friend groups are not at all determined by any kind of single race, gender, class, [or] religion.”
The Master of Many Languages. p. 13
4141 Spring Valley Road, Addison, TX 75001
Sports
Freshman Triathlete, Philanthropist. p. 16
evergreengreenhill.wordpress.com