27%

“Two girls call me closed-minded. I tell them that they are so open-minded that their brains leaked out.”
-Tucker Max, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell

Whether or not you believe in affirmative action, Carleton can do better. No one expects us to single-handedly solve the race gap in America, but one thing isn't helping, and that's bringing in international students and calling it diversity.

In 1974, Carleton's black and Latino enrollment was 150/1600, or a little over 9%. Today, it is 11%. In 35 years, we have gained 2%. Meanwhile, the actual black and Latino population of the US has grown from 16% to 28%.

Carleton students by race, 2008

Suddenly we're a lot farther behind, and we're using bad semantics to hide bad recruiting. In a recent speech, Oden mentioned the 'diversity' of the incoming freshman class: “...and [number] international students and students of color."

"With their powers combined, we are closer than ever to creating the ultimate Diversity Megabot! Take that, Middlebury."

He didn't say that. But anyone would tell you not to combine these groups – you're thinking in terms of Norm vs. Other, using a binary system to sort people. It’s the only way to have a sex life at Carleton, but it’s irresponsible.

But it can't be a mistake. President Oden is smarter than me. So coming from him, it sounds more like an excuse. It sounds like someone’s not doing their job because there’s no Rockefeller grant and black males leave anyway and it’s easier to get “diverse perspectives” from other countries than the third-world one in America.

In May 2007, Carleton's admissions policy shifted from need-blind to need-sensitive. The Voice reported that "there are fewer nonwhite and first-generation students in the classes of '10 and '11 than earlier classes."

The $300 million campaign soon followed, and a major initiative was bringing back need-blind admissions. But of the $90 million designated for financial aid, $60 million went to domestic students and $30 million to international students.

Why? What kind of diversity is important to us? People are afraid to talk about it, but most don't seem to care. Maybe I'm wasting my time because it all looks the same on paper and that's what we're here for, a piece of paper. The idea of diversity is good enough for the idea of an education.

Carleton vs. Disney World (we have more countries, but they have Blizzard Beach).

In the end, I think it's stupid that Carleton wants to be mini-Oxford, but I get it. We're sick of no one caring that we're mini-Harvard. The trouble is that changing our priorities has consequences on the real world that we're not owning up to. The irony is that people don't ultimately come here because it's "cosmopolitan;" they come here because they see the ranking and the modest image and expect a little "integrity."