Social life?

foolishpleasure
Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:40:18 +0000

^^^ I disagree. The interaction is certainly important, but for me, low numbers can be a deal breaker (though I am more understanding with schools in remote areas or states w/ a small black populaiton). Also, a number of my friends have outright refused to consider certain schools b/c of low Jewish enrollment - - even though that number is often considerably higher than black enrollment.

Socially, I want for my D, what all parents want: the opportunity to make friends with students of different backgrounds, w/ whom she has some common interests, but also some of whom are also of the same race. And the latter is impossible w/o more than couple handfuls of black students.

The black enrollment a Muhlenber is about 2%; that means a total black enrollment of about 50 students, lower than I’d like. But even if the numbers were stronger, the description of the student population as “somewhat narrow” would give me pause. Teriwtt, what do you mean by “somewhat narrow?” Do you mean the campus is more homogenous with respect to factors other than racial diversity?

Also, while there may be “turf wars” at some schools w/ more diverse student bodies than Muhlenberg, at many schools the increased diversity leads to increased cross-race interaction.