University Business - April 2007 - (Page 25)

ADMISSIONS Campus Diversity and Birds of a Feather How significant is student diversity to current and prospective students? By Howard and Matthew Greene WO SEEMINGLY BASIC principles of human dynamics, “birds of a feather flock together” and “opposites attract one another,” in fact represent a highly complex issue for college-bound students and institutions of higher ed. Diversification of college campuses through proactive recruiting and intentional admissions policies has been the most protracted, sensitive, and, in some circles, inflammatory issue confronting administrators in recent years. Our purpose here is not to address the complex legal and political elements of the affirmative action debate. We do, however, want to discuss the significance of student diversification to present and prospective students. We find that the vast majority of students contemplating the rite of passage of leaving home to undertake the college experience encapsulate one of their primary goals in today’s vernacular as “wanting to get a life.” Both young men and women express a sincere desire to engage with peers of different backgrounds, interests, and tastes after living all of their young lives in small towns, suburbs, or even cities where they have attended the same schools with the same fellow students. Call this desire a function of opposites attracting one another. On the other hand, what young adult who is most likely leaving home to live in a new and strange environment would not want to find a flock of similar friends? PRESENTING DIVERSITY With this tension at work between two T Students yearn to get the lives they’ve dreamed of via exposure to new ideas, people, and activities. competing forces, what role should college admissions play in presenting their college community to prospective students? We believe rather strongly from our conversations with a continuous stream of high school and college students that they comprehend the value of experiencing life in and out of the classroom with a diverse and varied community of peers. In typical fashion, for example, a young woman who was actively engaged in a community outreach program sponsored by her church youth group wrote the following: “This group is fulfilling because it is diverse in all ways: It’s welcoming, and it does not make skin-deep assumptions about people. I would like to go to a college that has a politically and socially aware student body, a sense of community, and a true mix of student types.” Another high school senior wrote that he was applying to certain colleges because he found on his visits to campuses, as he talked to undergraduates in the dorms and on the soccer teams, that there was a far greater range of students in terms of their geographic, high school, and, he sensed, socio-economic backgrounds. He indicated that this was one of the best features of his years of participation in competitive school athletics. These students reflect the concerns and aspirations of so many contemporary college-bound young men and women. They may not have read The World Is Flat or have understood the implications of globalization they will have to contend with in time, but they definitely yearn to get that life they have dreamed of through exposure to new ideas, people, and activities. They understand that America and the larger world is increasingly, if not a true melting pot, an environment that is far more diversified and heterogeneous than that which they have experienced to date. This potential to mix with opposites can represent one of the major attractions for the more socially, emotionally, and intellectually mature student. Those students who are not yet aware of or interested in gaining such exposure and understanding surely will profit from living in a mixed setting in college. We pin our hopes on the expectation that while some might wish more to flock with peers with the same interests and backgrounds only, they will over time broaden their Howard and Matthew Greene are independent education consultants and the authors of Greenes’ Guides to Educational Planning. To contact them, visit www.greenesguides.com. www.universitybusiness.com April 2007 | 25 http://www.greenesguides.com http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - April 2007

Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Stats Watch
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Admissions
Independent Outlook
On The Hill
Future Shock
Spellings Lessons
Identity Mangaement
Getting A Bigger Picture
Facility Directors Speak Out
Internet Technology
Working the Web
What's New
Calendar of Events
Direct Connect
End Note

University Business - April 2007