College students today are less likely to segregate themselves by race than they once were, according to a Ford Foundation report.
Increased campus diversity and special programs have made students comfortable enough to cross racial and ethnic barriers in academic, political, organizational and social situations, according to the report. It is titled Campus Diversity and Student Self-Segregation: Separating Myths From Facts.
Contrary to popular reports, student self-segregation is not, in fact, a dominant feature of campus life today, said Debra Humphreys, who prepared the report for the Campus Diversity Initiative project of the Ford Foundation. Students of similar races, ethnic backgrounds and neighborhoods continue to cluster on campuses where they live, socialize and study, Humphreys said. That clustering helps them deal with the stress of being in unfamiliar surroundings and increases their potential for success, she said.
It's better now here at GVSU here than it was, says Don Williams, Dean of Minority Affairs at Grand Valley. But he says there is still self-segregation.
I daily see the selection of partners in the cafeteria and in walking groups, he points out. The minute these kids can self select, they cluster, and they cluster by race. When a student gets through classes and labs and so on where they're the only minority, they go to where they're most comfortable, as you and I do.
Williams says Grand Valley isn't working to change that behavior, and he doesn't advocate that the university do anything. He agrees with Humphreys that students clustering by race can be comforting to students.
I don't call that a problem anymore, he said. It's not a problem for me and it's not a problem for the students.
