Yale University - Diversity

Diversity That Aids Quality Education

Yale's campus is incredibly diverse. My roommate has a full need based scholarship here. I have friends from all over the world and with vastly different ideas about politics, religion, and themselves. I've learned so much since being here, especially because there is a cooperative respect between students.

Very diverse. I feel about as...

Very diverse. I feel about as exotic as white bread, and I’m half Polish, half Puerto Rican! But despite the open vibe and the conspicuous diversity, de facto segregation is still inevitable in some regards. There are definitely cliques of Hispanic kids and of black kids, as well as Jewish cliques, and a couple of others. Maybe it’s human nature to hang out with people who have things in common with you, though. I think that Yale is a pretty amazing place to find a good mix of all different types of people with all different types of interests.

I’d say the campus is pretty...

I’d say the campus is pretty diverse, but people stay in factions depending on the activity. In some cases, the cultural groups impede cultural interaction between groups rather than enhance it.

I think Yale is a diverse place,...

I think Yale is a diverse place, but that diversity isn’t always apparent. There’s a noticeable tendency for students to self-segregate a little bit according to racial, ethnic, or religious background. I don’t mean that everyone has friends exactly like themselves—more, that there’s a strong sense of shared cultural identity, fostered by clubs and other programs, that has a visible effect on the friendships that people form when they come here.

The ‘Yale part’ of New Haven is...

The ‘Yale part’ of New Haven is quite radically different from the ‘New Haven part’ of New Haven. Basically, the Yale campus and immediate surroundings are primarily wealthy and primarily white. The rest of New Haven is actually quite poor, and it’s primarily people of color. It’s quite an astonishing separation.