@ScaredNJDad, according to the figures on collegedata.com (links below) Fordham is 64% White 15% Hispanic 9% Asian and 5% Black. (Of those 15% Hispanic, a significant percentage could also be Black considering that many NY area Hispanics are Dominican and Puerto Rican.)
Villanova is 76% White 7.5% Hispanic 7.3% Asian and 5% Black.
I’m not sure how you are adding up the figures to say that Fordham is only more “marginally” diverse than Villanova, and maybe on paper the difference between the 64% White at Fordham and the 76% White at Villanova doesn’t look like much. However, after being on college tours, seeing current students, other prospective students and their families, I have to say that as a person of color, I felt that the difference in diversity was significant, and not just marginal.
Both Fordham and Villanova are great schools. However I take issue with your statement that Villanova is “significantly harder to get in than Fordham.” In fact, it’s not.
For Villanova,
49% of 15,705 applicants were admitted http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=185
For Fordham,
48% of 40,912 applicants were admitted
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1148