Aleena Nasruddin, Editor-in-Chief
@aleenancourant
Julie Song, Editor-in-Chief
@juliescourant
As a district, New Canaan Public Schools has a total minority population of 10.3%. This unique environment of low diversity may contribute to many students, especially minorities, shaping their college search and application process by variety of race, religion, and thought.
Members of religious minorities may turn to friends or family for influence during their search. “I looked at schools that I knew some of my Jewish friends went to and enjoyed,” senior Sage Fuhrman said.
Certain opportunities that a school may hold, such as religious gatherings or clubs also are a factor. “I looked at different options, if they had Hillel or Shabbat opportunities,” Sage said. Hillel is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, where according to Sage, people can congregate for holidays, Shabbat, and other events.
These diverse opportunities are reflective of changing attitudes of colleges. “I was listening to certain podcasts of certain professors and admission officers from the certain colleges I’m applying to,” Angelo Alfaro, son of Hispanic immigrants, said. “They have this awareness of the general racism and discrimination that, Hispanics more specifically, have in everyday life. I think that the admissions officers have a better understanding of that now.”
Broader cultural moments may also be defining for students as they examine how they would like to grow in college. “I have been to Israel so that gave me a different perspective on the world,” Sage said. “It opened my mind to other parts of the world and helped me navigate the college process, especially the community aspect.”
Diversity may be especially important to those minorities with challenging experiences within New Canaan. “I want to go college with a lot of people of color,” senior Savannah Phillips said. “It would be a better community for me and I wouldn’t feel so—I don’t feel out of place here, but it is weird to think about the lack of diversity.”
This stemmed from Savannah reflecting on her role at the school recently. “My experience at New Canaan involves a lot of white people. That’s fine, I like it here,” she said. “But it is still weird to think that I am the only woman of color in my physics class.”
At the same time, diversity still often comes second to dollar and educational value. “I prefer diversity, but if a school offers a great amount of financial aid and the academics are good, but there just isn’t enough diversity, diversity isn’t the catalyst for why I’m not going to enroll in that college,” Angelo said.
“Most colleges are predominantly white institutions. That is just how it is in America,” senior Osasu Uwa-Omee said. “I do have regular predominantly white institutions on my list because no matter where you go, it is going to be hard to find diversity.”
And for some seniors, diversity may just be expected anywhere outside of New Canaan and therefore not actively sought out. “I just assumed it would be different. I think it’s a fair assumption to make today with the college admissions process,” senior Vaughn Slatoff said. “I wasn’t really factoring that too much into my decision.”
Vaughn later added that he is looking for diversity in college to have an engaging college experience. “I am looking for diversity of thought, which definitely comes from diversity of demographics,” he said. “As long as there is diversity of thought, I think it will make for a unique and interesting college experience.”
Yet guidance counselor Lindsay Reihl said that she doesn’t notice students often look for diversity in colleges. “I don’t think that students think about diversity right off the bat when applying to college, especially coming from New Canaan High School which isn’t a very diverse student body,” she said.
Ironically, as students are becoming more attracted to the diversity of race, religion, and thought that a college education could provide, the pressure for schools to diversify has also burdened minority applicants with having to recognize their race to a greater extent during application season.
Angelo used his unique experiences in his application. “In my common app essay, I talk about the struggles that I had and the insecurities I felt within this community,” Angelo said.
Osasu says he must actively work against stereotypes. “There is a general belief that no matter where you go, a Black person is not likely to seek higher education past high school,” Osasu said. “I want to work against that.”
This may be something unique to racial minorities. While applying to college, Vaughn said that he didn’t feel that pressure. “I don’t think I need to worry about going against the stereotype,” he said. “It’s not up to me what demographic colleges are looking for. I can just show what I’m about and who I am.”
Interestingly enough, Savannah said she doesn’t feel any particular need to go against racial stereotypes, but she does acknowledge them. “I don’t feel the pressure to go against the stereotype of an Indian girl applying for a STEM major because we don’t have many Indian girls in New Canaan to begin with,” she said.
There is also of course an added stressor for minorities that their race may be a determining factor for if they will get in or not.
Osasu explores ideas of race in his application, believing it to be to his advantage. “My race might have a different weighting than it would in the past. I talk about my race in my application, so I put weight into that factor,” Osasu said.
Savannah feels her race might actually help her admissions chances, despite being a member of a group normally marginalized by the college admissions process. “I’m not another white person applying from New Canaan. And I’m not just Indian. My dad is part Pakistani,” she said. “Technically, for some places I’m also a first generation student because my parents both went to college in India and some universities don’t count that as an actual education.”
It is clear that students of all races and backgrounds are seeking to diversify or at least are ready to embrace greater diversity out of New Canaan. For colleges that are attempting to promote such an environment, this usually means they must place some emphasis on race when reviewing applications or managing their school environment. “It’s not realistic to say that a college should completely ignore race,” Osasu said.
