Amid discussions in recent weeks on affirmative action, I was speaking with a good friend here at Georgetown about diversity on campus. And while I asserted that I thought Georgetown is diverse, she expressed her opposite belief — that Georgetown is not a diverse school at all and is instead one dominated by its predominantly white, well-dressed and private school-educated students from the Northeast.
This got me thinking — is Georgetown as diverse as I had thought, beyond the statistics and demographic breakdowns on admissions pamphlets? To be sure, there is a pervasive Georgetown archetype, a typical Jack and Jane Hoya. Georgetown has been known as a bastion of preppiness, with many of its students toting Barbour jackets, Patagonia fleeces and Ralph Lauren button-downs.
And most students would contend that this overwhelming model of a Georgetown student stands true, myself at times included. However, a quick walk through Red Square or Healy Lawn shows that a significant number of students do not actually look like J. Crew models. There is much disagreement over whether or not there is an outwardly diverse student body, but “outwardly diverse” provides only a superficial definition of diversity.
Beyond appearances, here at Georgetown there is a kind of diversity rarely seen or appreciated. Recognizing our diversity takes more than a walk to class and simply seeing different skin colors, races or ethnic groups. It is to recognize the incredible range of stories that students have lived through, stories that are vastly different from what is commonly expected from students at an expensive, private university.
Though events like New Student Orientation’s Pluralism in Action are not fully adequate in addressing diversity, the event is necessary as a brief introduction to Georgetown’s student body. The anonymity of such an exercise makes one pause and think about how the person living down the hall spent time homeless, the lax bro behind you in class might be working two jobs to pay his tuition or the legacy girl speaks three languages. It is precisely the anonymity of diversity, and the simple reality that many here at Georgetown cannot be fully appreciated at face value, that makes our brand so important.
This is not to say that Georgetown is as diverse as it could be. One of the rarely spoken blights upon the Georgetown masses is not only racial or ethnic self-segregation but also a perhaps unintended socioeconomic self-segregation that gives rise to the archetype of what we (and much of the country) consider a “typical” Georgetown student.
Those considered “typical” Georgetown students indeed often socialize only with each other, not just during club meetings during the week but on the weekends, too. They are the groups you’ll most likely find in a given house party or at Rhino again and again. When you think about it, those groups more often than not involve the same 200 or so students, highly visible to many within the student body not necessarily by name but rather by appearance.
This is not to say that I do not fall outside of this realm. I will be the first person to admit that I, at times, am in a category. It is all too easy and natural, however unfortunate, to self-segregate when socializing. But to not acknowledge or recognize the breadth of students we possess in our midst on the Hilltop would be to perform a disservice to the thousands of other students with whom we work, study and learn.
The power of Georgetown both as a school and as a community perhaps lies beyond the first impression of a university of its well-coiffed students. For beyond the stereotype of Longchamp bags and Sperry Top-Siders lies a community of surprising depth. While there is certainly room to improve, it is worthwhile to recognize the transformation Georgetown has undergone in recent years. Beyond social groups or skin color lies a Georgetown student body and community of notable diversity and depth — one whose importance, unfortunately, is underemphasized and unrealized by the most important people in our community: the students.
David Weis is a junior in the College. This is the final appearance of FROM THE OUTSIDE this semester.
