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<p>Yes. I understand that the impetus for theme housing most often comes from the affinity groups themselves. It’s kind of a two-edge sword – providing a sense of community, but undermining the ultimate reason for seeking diversity in the first place. It’s something each college has to figure out and, frankly, these are issues that are far more important in considering whether a campus culture is a good fit than whether or not the Economics Department is “good”. I would guess that a student wishing to stick to his or her own racial group could probably find a school where that is easier than it would be in Swarthmore housing.</p>
<p>The story of the last effort to try a multi-cultural hall actually says a lot about the way the students govern Swarthmore by informal means. The Housing Dean went along with the proposal of the test by offering the hall. It was the students who responded “Hell, no” in the most effective possible way: by submitting no applications for the hall, so it had to be withdrawn due to lack of interest. It’s just one of those Swarthmore quirks: the students take pride in a tradition of the entire campus being “multi-cultural” and strongly resist any move that would divide the campus.</p>
<p>In practice, the Swarthmore housing lottery does allow small groups of friends to live together. I would be surprised if this does not include small groups of Latina friends, or Asian American friends, or African American friends. Some students bond along ethnic lines; other do not. However, the lottery rules make it virtually impossible for any group to take over an entire floor or wing. Plus, most of the dorms have first-years mixed by race and gender…so you end up with pockets of friends mixed into a “multi-cultural” setting in most dorms. I think the result is that you do have fairly strong “affinity groups” on campus, but they exist as prominent pillars in the overall culture of classroom, dorm life, and the social scene.</p>
<p>To be honest, my daughter gave up on the whole concept of figuring out ethnicity her first week at Swarthmore. So many of her new friends were mixed (Latina/Pakistani or whatever) that she couldn’t keep it all straight anyway.</p>