Brave Ulysses

http://www.bucknell.edu/documents/In...2007_2008C.pdf
http://www.bucknell.edu/documents/In...2007_2008B.pdf
After looking over 2007-2008 Common Data Set , I am interested in Bucknell alumni , students, and parent perspective on 2 points.


1- Is the University looking to make the campus more diverse , I see that only 225 students are African American or Hispanic , about 6% of the student body.

2- Average high school GPA of incoming freshman is 3.54 ? Considering the competetive nature of Bucknell , I would have guessed the avg GPA would be higher.Is this accurate , and is there a median GPA published anywhere?

Thanks in advance for your input.

morrismm

I am a BU alumni and have a child attending BU in the fall as a first year. Your question disturbed me for several reasons--
1. Many of my "white" daughter's close relatives (ie cousins, nieces, etc) are hispanic or african american--so what! If BU has 6%, 20% or 50% "protected classes," it would not make her education better or worse.

2. When I went to BU , the percentage of black/hispanic students was probably less. However some of my closest friends were from the group we now claim as adding to the diversity percentage (ie, black, hispanic and even gay!)

3. Studies (this has not been widely studied, or at least with conclusive evidence) show that students can be equally educated in homogeneius or diversified groups.

So my point is, if you are open-minded at BU, you're OK. If you are closed-minded and bigoted at BU, you will be this way anywhere. If you are at BU for a world class education, you can get it. Be open, be curious and be adventerious. And go for the most challenging courses. You will get a world class education.

Brave Ulysses

morrismm :Thank you for your reply , I did not intend to disturb with the inquiry.


Bucknell is appealing for its world class education and long record of academic success.

My question is not whether you can receive a world class education but is Bucknell as an institution is satisfied with minimal minority representation on the campus.
The issue goes to the "bubble environment" at numerous liberal arts universities.
Bucknell is not alone with this diversity dilemma.

I am not looking to debate the merits of campus diversity , there is another long winded thread on this forum for that.

Thanks for your consideration.

ericatbucknell

as another alumnus, i can tell you that bucknell is definitely trying to diversify its campus. unfortunately, the schools that face the hardest time diversifying are generally small, rural and not very diverse. unfortunately (in this regard), bucknell is fairly small, rural and not very diverse.

progress is being made, however. comparing the 2002 and 2008 common data sets is an easy way to look at increasing minority enrollments. since 2001-2002, minority groups have seen the following levels of growth in enrollment:

international, 78%
black, 15%
american indian, 23%
asian, 26%
hispanic, 29%

obviously, the overall numbers still arent great. but continually increased funding for 'campus enrichment' is planned and, as such, i would expect continued minority enrollment growth going forward.

---

on the gpa question, keep in mind that all schools are free to report gpas in whatever form they wish. given the high percentage of bucknell students who graduated in the top deciles of their high schools classes, an average gpa of around 3.6 likely refers to unweighted gpa in academic classes only. top decile numbers are perfectly comparable from institution to institution, but they are a much better indicator of high school performance than reported average gpa.

aberdeen

As a Bucknell student about to begin my sophomore year, I agree with ericatbucknell---Bucknell IS making progress in diversifying its student body. But most importantly, Bucknell has embarked upon what I believe to be a unique program called the Bucknell Community College Scholars Program, which will enable low-income community college students to complete their undergraduate education on our campus. And while it does not address diversity (maybe as directly as Brave Ulysses would like it)--I think it does address getting different types of students on campus. I think about five community colleges are partnering with Bucknell as part of a national initiative by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. From what I have read about the program, Bucknell is one of eight universities (Amherst, Cornell, Mount Holyoke, University of California-Berkeley,University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, and the University of Southern California) to partner with the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation in an effort to increase the opportunities for high-achieving, low-income community college students to earn a bachelor’s degree from a selective school.Through the program with the Cooke Foundation, community college students who are good students will have the opportunity to transfer to a school such as Bucknell to continue their education. While I don't think it addresses everything in the diversity arena--I do think the program will add students who might not ever have a chance to attend a place like Bucknell. Sure, not every student from this program will be African American or Hispanic. But more importantly, Bucknell is continuing to recognize all kinds of students as potential Bucknellians. The kids here are great, hard working students--so I'm not sure what Brave Ulysses is implying about the school by saying the average freshman incoming GPA being at 3.54. Hey--we're not Yale, Harvard, Princeton kids--and that's a good thing IMO. Most everyone on our campus that I have met (or by my observation) appears to be bright, very focused, hard working, energetic--and most importantly friendly and nice. I was drawn to Bucknell because I knew I would get a great education--and I am getting one that is challenging, as well. A 3.54 is good starting point for most freshmen--but be advised getting A's here is not easy. The great thing about Bucknell that I like most is that it's a place to make friends easily...ericatbucknell would agree with me-and you can trust his appraisals from all of his posts about Bucknell--and if you are accepted here--you will get a super education--AND be surrounded by a lot of very nice people-it doesn't get any better than that--that's why we are all so loyal to Bucknell!

ericatbucknell

just to add to aberdeens point, bucknell has also recently implemented a campus enrichment scholarship program, which offers scholarship money to underrepresented minorities, among other desired groups. further, the university has also partnered with the posse foundation, which now sends about 20 low income, high potential, ethnically diverse, urban students to bucknell every year. a chief diversity officer has also been hired.

the main problem, as mentioned in passing above, is that it is very difficult to attract minority students to a campus with few enrolled minorities. hopefully the kinds of programs mentioned above will help to establish a larger critical mass of diversity on campus that will, in turn, attract more diverse students going forward.

regardless, diversity--in all its forms--is definitely a university priority. heck, it is one of five main goals of the university going forward as established in the schools thematic document, 'the plan for bucknell.'

The Plan for Bucknell || Office of the President || Bucknell University

Brave Ulysses

Eric & aberdeen , thank you for your thoughtful and enlightening replies.

Just a quick note about my queries , they are not meant to imply anything and are not asked with a predisposed agenda.
I ask questions and look for perspective from those that have first hand knowledge so I can educate myself on a particular issue.

You both have answered in away that I can better understand the University and help me with decisions down the road.

Eric, your link led me to this page which was very helpful.

Enhance Diversity || The Plan for Bucknell || Bucknell University

Enhance Diversity
Bucknell will adopt an unwavering commitment to diversity in all its forms. This commitment will be carried out within a civil, supportive, and nurturing environment of open exchange.

Last part of my question , is there a median freshman GPA published ?

breckw

The average GPA of an incoming student in the class of 2011 was 3.66 unweighted according to:

Profile: Class of 2012 || Bucknell University

The full stats for the class of 2012 aren't available yet, but I'm sure they'll be provided in the next few months.

Brave Ulysses

the 3.66 is the avg of admitted , 3,54 is the avg of the enrolled , i was looking for the median to see if it deviated from the average.