Today, Brooklyn College is well known for being one of the most diverse schools in America. It has students of all races, religions, and ethnicity, contributing to the rich culture of the school and the area around it. This diversity is a far cry from the student demographic at the time of the school’s founding in 1930. Here is a breakdown of the current student population by race:

Brooklyn College celebrated its 75th birthday in 2005

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: 0.09%

American Indian or Alaskan Native: 0.13%

Biracial: 0.55%

Hispanic: 11.40%

Asian: 12.97%

Black or African American: 18.81%

Unknown: 25.06%

White: 30.99%

The most popular majors today are Business Management and Finance, Accounting, Psychology, and Childhood Education.  Since Brooklyn College was founded as an affordable public college and still continues to be so today, it attracts people of all social standings, races, and nationalities. It is a school for everybody, regardless of where their ethnic or religious.

Brooklyn College takes full advantage of the richness that this diversity brings and created a Diversity Plan for the years 2008-2013. The Diversity Plan “provides a structure in which to create and sustain an environment that allows people of different backgrounds, economic levels, values, and beliefs to flourish and contribute, both in the classroom and the workplace.” Not only does Brooklyn College want to increase student diversity, but to increase faculty diversity as well.

Brooklyn College logo

The Diversity Plan has four goals:

1)   To engage the entire campus community in meaningful dialogues and actions that lead to introspection and change

2)   To weave the principles of diversity and inclusion into all aspects of college life.

3)   To identify impediments in creating a diverse and inclusive environment, propose solutions to overcome those impediments, and measure our progress at all levels of the college infrastructure.

4)   To support the goals outlined in the College’s Strategic Plan.

Today, Brooklyn College considers its diversity to be a valuable asset. It recognizes that each group can bring something interesting to life at the college, and that this diversity makes Brooklyn College a microcosm of the world.

The current Brooklyn College Kingsman leadership denounces the racism present in the earlier iteration of the paper. Currently, the Brooklyn College Kingsman seeks to reveal the issues immigrant students face, such as finding funding for their education or employment. The historical leaders of the Kingsman are no longer affiliated with today’s group.

According to the Center for the Study of Brooklyn, Brooklyn in 2006/2008 has a 37.2% foreign born population. The top ten places of foreign birth are China (3.7%), Jamaica (2.7%), Puerto Rico (2.5%), Haiti (2.5%), Trinidad and Tobago (2.2%), Dominican Republic (2.1%), Mexico (2.0%), Ukraine (1.9%), Russia (1.9%), and Guyana (1.9%). Brooklyn College shares 8 of the top ten foreign born populations as Brooklyn as a whole. Furthermore, as a percentage of Brooklyn College the foreign born population represents around 21.0% of Brooklyn College.
In examining this data, however, it is important to note that the college collects this data on a voluntary basis. Students are not required to provide their place of birth, and a vast majority do not.

Current statistics (Spring 2012) are taken from the Brooklyn College office of Institutional Planning, Research and Asessment courtesey of Dr. Ayers.

Top 10 Countries Represented Total (By Number of Students)

China – 395
Russia – 231
Jamaica – 224
Ukraine – 218
Trinidad and Tobago – 151
Haiti – 138
Guyana – 136
Bengladesh – 126
Pakistan – 120
Dominican Republic – 101

While ethnicity is not an accurate representation of the immigrant population at Brooklyn College, it is worthwhile to note the current ethnic break up on campus. Ever since Open Admissions ended, there was a worry that the demographics on college campuses would change drastically. And they did. Brooklyn College is one of the most competitive 4-year CUNY Colleges. In 2007, 26 % of the entering class had SAT scores of 1200 or more (Perez-Pena 1). According to a New York Times Survey, 36.8% of students on CUNY campuses are Asian, 34.9% White, 17.8% Hispanic, and a measly 10.3% African American. Moreover, the number of Hispanics and Blacks has been falling in recent years. While these numbers seem to indicate that the current admissions policy is creating an imbalance on CUNY campuses, the solution is not so clear-cut.

Should admissions policies be adjusted to better accommodate blacks and Hispanics? Does doing so, in effect, demean the said groups of people by implying that they need this special treatment? Is it fair to judge admissions based on academic achievement alone? It would seem logical to argue that it is but what, then, can be done about the present situation developing on CUNY campuses?

To read the entire New York Times Article, click here. http://nyti.ms/Kyt2LI

Citation:

Perez-Pena, Richard. “At CUNY, Stricter Admissions Bring Ethnic Shift.” The New York Times 22 May 2012. Web. 30 May 2012.