At Eugene Lang College, students reap the benefits of a small college within a large city, enjoying aspects like small class sizes, one-on-one teaching, overqualified professors, and apparently, diversity within such a small concentrated area. At least that is what prospective students are told when touring the school. Surprisingly enough, some of the student’s who attend Eugene Lang, along with other colleges within the New School University, will say otherwise, and especially, those of a minority status.
Parsons sophomore, Andrea Pardo, who is a part of the Higher Education Opportunity Program, (HEOP) expressed surprising views on the role diversity plays at the New School.
“Well, we’re a liberal, progressive school, open to new ideas. That being said, people can also be very narrow-minded here at Parsons. You’d be surprised to find how big a role cultural norms seem to play in this University,” says Pardo. The sophomore design and management major was born and raised by Colombian family, all of whose first language is Spanish.
HEOP is a program based on the foundations of helping students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend the University. It provides an opportunity for students especially of a minority group, to attend a University that would normally be out of the question, due to financial needs.
Upon being asked about how it feels to meet another student of similar race and cultural norms, Pardo replied: “There’s definitely a strong, ‘you’re one of us’ vibe that you feel when you find someone else of the same race, or background as you. Even though our school is much smaller than say, NYU, it is easy to feel lost as a minority especially when the school isn’t as diverse as you’d think. So many of the Parsons population consist of Asians, that other minorities feel like Asians are the majority. That’s certainly different.”
Pardo went on to explain how strange it was to be in a class environment where sometimes, 80-90% of the students were Asian, (basically) non-English speakers. “They don’t interact with the environment, they’re just filling a seat and doing the work. They don’t make any effort to talk to anyone else, except for each other. It’s a little exclusive...and kind of intimidating.”
The school prides itself for being such an alternative and unique school. But what exactly is the fundamental off which this is based? Thabisa Rulumeni, sophomore at Lang, and an international student from South Africa had an interesting view to share.
“I had the chance to see Mount Holyoke College over the weekend while I was visiting a friend. I was surprised to find that black people were even more closely grouped over there, than they are at Lang. There is an uncomfortable feeling about it, because nobody really knows anyone outside of his or her culture or race. I was shocked,” says Rulumeni.
According to Rulumeni, the only thing that separates Lang from Holyoke, is the fact that the separation isn’t as drastic. However, there’s something to be said about how a progressive school such as the New School can hardly achieve success with diversity. If that’s the case, then there’s little hope for any other university’s success with diversity, Rulumeni stated.
When both students were asked about whether or not they’d ever felt threatened due to their different races, the answer was pretty unanimous. Both students agreed on the fact that all minorities face an uncomfortable seat at several times in their lives. However, it seemed like the collective response was that their expectations were much higher coming to the New School, and that they had more faith in the “progressive” school they were promised before attending. Unfortunately, they had been slightly let down.
The New School certainly has achieved a lot, earning a fantastic name and reputation. However, it seems like this University might still need to work just as hard as other schools across the country to rectify its lack of diversity.
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