<p>“The stereotype of the rich white kid with alums as parents comes to mind when thinking about Notre Dame.”</p>
<p>Some 50% of students receive financial aid. This year’s entering class is more than 20% nonwhite. And more than three quarters of students are not legacies. The stereotype isn’t representative of the typical student.</p>
<p>“Out of all the top universities, I would argue that Notre Dame is the least diverse ethnically, religiously and politically.”</p>
<p>Well, let’s consider that point. Take politics. How many other top 20 universities had a substantial number of students who did NOT vote for Obama? On how many other campuses would the presence of Obama as commencement speaker have been as controversial? Most top schools are havens for Democratic, left-wing politics; with conservative students a tiny and marginalized minority. Notre Dame is the only top school with a balance of liberal and conservative viewpoints. </p>
<p>Then take “ethnicity.” Berkeley is more than 40% Asian. Does that make it “more” diverse than Notre Dame? Or less so, since whites (especially Irish Catholics), blacks, and Hispanics are therefore under-represented? Is the most “ethnically diverse” student body the one that has the greatest diversity in skin tone, or the one that most closely represents the ethnic and racial makeup of the country’s population? </p>
<p>On religious diversity – you’ve got that one. Notre Dame is a Catholic school, not just a school that was founded by Catholics but that has faded away into secularism. But Catholics are arguably an incredibly diverse bunch, encompassing every possible skin tone, socioeconomic background, and political viewpoint. I would argue that Catholics, as a group, are far more “diverse” than, say, Jews or Muslims.</p>