Racial Surroundings

The racial make-up of a person’s surroundings can impact their experience with regards to their comfort level in that environment. Psychologists describe the effect of a person’s racial surroundings on aspects of their life, especially the educational system. In institutions of higher education, many students may judge their experience by their academic success, social involvement, and their readiness for post-graduate work. However, those factors also depend heavily on a person’s surroundings. A central component of a student’s educational surroundings is the racial make-up of the academic institution in terms of the ratio between minorities and the dominant culture. African Americans at predominantly White institutions, usually measure their

In the study written by, Amanda Shropshire titled “Being Black & Bleeding Blue: A Quantitative look at the Experience of African American Alumni at a Predominantly White Institution.” In the research that was conducted it was understood that there has been an observed link between the racial climate and student’s academic achievement. The research was conducted at Saint Mary’s College, which is a predominantly White institution lacking racial, ethnic and religious diversity. The research showed that due to the similarity of the student body, African American alumnae of the college endured a variety of negative experiences such as discrimination, stereotypes, and feelings of social alienation and attitudes of dissatisfaction toward the college’s diversity efforts. Not to mention, at Syracuse University minority students represent 25.4 percent of the total student population of 21,789. African-American students only make up 7.4 percent of the schools entire population. However, at many elite colleges and universities the ethnic population still remains predominantly White, and the transition into these institutions for African American students can be very

However, African Americans in predominantly White institutions still may experience negative effects that shape a student’s overall college experience. This study examined the experience and comfort level of African American alumnae of Saint Mary’s College through a racial lens in order to assess their academic success, postgraduate achievements, and advocacy of the institution. Institutional racism has been a factor in American lives, and even prevalent in education for hundreds of years at times producing segregation and at other times colleges for Blacks. Today, the influence of racial surroundings in higher education has become less visible on a structural level, but the effects for each individual student may be