<p>Perhaps some current URM students can contribute their thoughts.</p>
<p>I can give some longer term historical trends. Since Swarthmore became serious about diversity starting in the 1960s, URMs faced the same challenges as at any historically white affluent college or university. These came to a head quite early at Swarthmore in 1969 in a week of turmoil refered to as “The Crisis”. African American students took over the Admissions Office with a series of demands (admissions, faculty hiring, etc.). While the College was receptive to the demands, the tactics didn’t sit well with Quaker ethos. None of that really mattered a week into negotiations when the President of the College climbed the stairs to his office and keeled over dead of a heart attack. The students ended the takeover, the Admissions Dean quietly moved to Princeton, and the College began a very serious effort to not only enroll minority students, but to build the kind of support (in the Deans Office, in the faculty, etc.) that makes diversity a part of the fabric of the school.</p>
<p>Today, I think you will find that Swarthmore is one of the most diverse colleges or universities on the East coast. 44% of the enrolled students this year are minority students and/or internationals. 53% of the acceptance letters were mailed to non-white or international students over the last two years.</p>
<p>Every possible minority group (ethnic, gender, sexual orientation) is represented on the staff of the Deans Office – an important commitment to provide a voice (and a sounding board, shoulder to lean on, etc.) for minority groups on campus. Not making this commitment is one of the ways colleges struggle with diversity. It’s not enough to let minority students be a part of a white campus culture. A school has change its culture so that diversity is an inherent defining characteristic of the campus community. I believe that is the case at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>There is no “theme” housing at Swarthmore. No “black” dorm. No “Latino/a” house. Efforts over the years to consider such options have been resoundingly shot down by the student body as being contrary to Swarthmore’s ideals of inclusiveness. The last time a trial offering of a “multi-cultural” hall in the housing lottery was made (with the support of the African-American students group), the students rejected the entire concept with a petition drive in the dining hall and by submitting essentially no applications for the hall, thus rendering the idea stillborn.</p>
<p>There are active ethnic identity groups – for African Americans, for Caribbian ancestory, for Latino/a, and for every regional permutation of Asian American. These groups are prominent parts of the overall campus social scene. For example, a cross-section of students attend all-campus parties thrown by these identity groups.</p>
<p>In reading the school newspaper weekly for the past six years, I have seen virtually no reported racial incidents and very little grousing from Swarthmore’s minority students (considering that super-intelligent college students are world class grousers!).</p>
<p>The one “racial” incident that did make the newspaper over that time frame concerned an assistant women’s baskeball coach who exhorted her team to press the ball upcourt against the opponent’s largely black defense because “black players don’t like to play defense”. The day after the game, the basketball team’s captains (white and black) went to the athletic director with concerns that this coaching was inappropriate. The assistant coach who made the remarks resigned that afternoon and the athletic department released a statement that such racial stereotyping as unacceptable on Swarthmore athletic teams.</p>