CharHope

My daughter is Asian-American. How diverse does Bates feel? Is the atmosphere one of tolerance? Do minorities feel comfortable there? Any comments welcome.

walkthewalk

Bates has a very liberal, tolerant atmosphere and diversity is highly valued, although Bates is not as diverse as it could be. I'm a first-year and on my floor alone, there are Asian-American, Latino, Caucasian, Indian-American and African-American students, plus international students from China, England, and Canada. There are student groups like Latinos Unidos and Amandla (among others, which you can see here: Bates College | Student Organizations A-Z) that exist to promote diversity and cross-cultural understanding.

sunmachine

Bates, like other LACs, is working to increase its numbers of minority students. In the class entering in the fall of 2008 there were 34 african americans, 28 hispanics, 30 asians, and 2 native americans. There were also a number of foreign students.

I read that the numbers were a bit higher for the class entering in 2009, but I don't have the details.

OldbatesieDoc

Bates has a long history of diversity and liberalism. Originally an anti-slavery baptist institution, it was one of the first 4 year colleges to accept women as well as African Americans. There have never been frats or sororities, and any student organization has to accept any student who is interested. I visited my alma mater again last year, while my sons were touring, and was proud to hear the tour guide and admissions personnel emphasizing those same values.

yepunsarang

Hi Charhope!

It's great that both you and your daughter are considering liberal arts colleges. Quite frankly, I find many Asian American students and their parents are unaware of how great these places can be.

As an Asian American myself and a sophomore here, I do have some things to say ! First of all, it is true, Bates is trying to diversify the campus more...and that is for a reason, there aren't many minorities here. I was very worried about this myself---but I pushed myself and thought, "Well, you know what? This is a good challenge for me. So by the time I'm out of Bates, i'll be so used to being comfortable regardless of my heritage."

I was right. I am perfectly happy here, and though it took me a while to get used to it, it wasn't because racism is rampant here or the people are snobby. It's purely because switching from a very diverse high school to a place like Bates was different. The people here are incredibly sweet, intelligent, open, laid-back. There are also many international students here (including Asians) and I spend plenty of time with them.

I say, that if your daughter is willing to step out into the world with a positive attitude and challenge herself, she should definitely consider Bates. Final word: Bates isn't terribly diverse, but that isn't a detriment if you're open-minded. Hope this helped!