arielw1991

What is diversity like on campus, or in clearer terms, what is diversity REALLY like on campus. I have been looking online and i am getting mixed messages about the diversity of colgate students. How noticeable are students of Color?international students? people no from the Northeast?

lydia08

i just graduated last may - hopefully that's current enough?

i always felt that colgate was pretty diverse, though i think it depends on your social group. i was involved in cultural groups, so i think i was more aware of all the different groups and events on campus. many of the most active student groups are cultural groups, so much so that there actually seemed to me that there was a disproportionately large presence of these groups than their actual numbers on campus would suggest. there's the ALANA cultural center, dozens of groups for students of every color, every religion and every part of the world, and a special pre-orientation program for international students to help them get everything they need and used to college life.

there are students from around 48-49 states every year. coming from Seattle, i was worried that i'd be lost among the Long Islanders, but my roommate was from Arizona and the girls next door to us were from California and Washington as well. the dean of admissions (Gary Ross) holds special dinners at the faculty dining hall on campus (merrill house) for students from the pacific northwest every semester. also, "northeast" students include both preppy kids from Connecticut and kids born and raised in Spanish Harlem, so just because more students are from the northeast than elsewhere doesn't mean they're all the same.

all that being said, the numbers are a bit smaller compared to some other schools of colgate's caliber. i think the rural location and "conservative" stereotype that colgate can have are significant reasons why. unfortunately, those stereotypes scare off people that would make the campus more diverse, and in my experience, those stereotypes are completely untrue.

morrismm

My son belongs to a fraternity at Colgate that is very diverse. There are representatives of several racial groups, international and even different sexual persuasions. In other words, there are blacks, Hispanics, internationals and gays. I was astounded that a fraternity would be so open minded. I was so happy to hear of such a group at Colgate and so proud of my son and his friends choices.

ticklemepink

Compared to when I first went to Colgate, Colgate is much more diverse than it was four years ago. I remembering hosting some students for class of 2010 and was so surprised to see students of different backgrounds walking about.

Sororities and fraternities are still work in progress IMHO in terms of diversifying their members. The ones who are much more accepting and cooperative with the administration tend to be much more diverse than the more rebellious, conservative ones. In the classroom, sometimes it's all white, sometimes it's a bit of a mix, depending what's being taught.

For one thing, there is quite bit of indirect propaganda on campus to remind Colgate students of their affluence in comparsion to the rest of the county that's all working-class or poor. So we are certainly class conscious but race... getting there.