Boasting a rigorous liberal arts curriculum, an accredited business school, competitive varsity sports, and a myriad of student clubs, Fairfield University has much to offer a prospective undergraduate student. However, one thing is lacking.
“There is very little diversity here at Fairfield, not only in racial or cultural terms, either. Everybody here is the same type of person,” says Monica Dauphinais ’06.
The Princeton Review has said the following about Fairfield students: “for years there has been this constant stigma surrounding the typical Fairfield student; the bleach-blonde, Saab-driving, beach-living, Abercrombie-wearing, parent-supported, business major suburban specimen with his or her nose generally pointed in a skyward direction.”
According to U.S. News ‘ World Report’s 2004 College Rankings, out of a possible 1.0, Fairfield earned a diversity index of 0.19, indicating little diversity among students on campus. In comparison, Wesleyan University ranked at 0.40, Villanova University ranked at 0.25 and The College of New Jersey ranked at 0.28.
Although the undergraduate student body of the university is comprised of approximately 3,100 students, 88 percent of these students are classified as being of white, non-Hispanic origin, according to the Fairfield University Common Data Set. A mere four percent of students classify themselves as Hispanic and only two percent are black.
Likewise, in 2002, a whopping 47 percent of Fairfield students were from the New England region, with 46 percent originating from the nearby Middle Atlantic States. Only seven percent of students were from other regions of both the country and the world, according to the University Website.
“Many of the people at Fairfield look the same, dress the same, and even act the same,” says Cathy Gruffi ’06. “All of my friends live within a 150 mile radius of each other.”
A homogenous student body does not merely affect the social aspect of student life but has greater implications.
“Personal relationships are a primary catalyst to dispel prejudice,” explains Elizabeth Dreyer, professor of religious studies at Fairfield University. “With the advent of instant communication across the globe and the growing range of diverse backgrounds within the borders of more and more countries, it is imperative that we take every opportunity, not only to study the history, customs and values of persons from different cultures, but to come to know them personally and enter into friendships and cooperative projects in a spirit of openness and mutual respect.”
A lack of student diversity in the Fairfield community detracts from the overall university experience, said Elizabeth Boquet, English professor at Fairfield. “Ideally, members of a university community should be engaged in lives that promote the best of what we can imagine for our society and world. Full participation from a broad range of people is obviously a huge component of this goal,” said Boquet.
According to Bouquet, a more diversified student body would only enhance the university experience at Fairfield. “I would be happy if there were more cultural, racial and ethnic diversity on campus. It would make for a more vibrant, vital community for all of us.”
This is a problem not unique to Fairfield University, said Martha Milcarek, assistant vice president of Public Relations. National trends are affecting the types of students who are applying and where they are applying from, she said.
“In recent years, students are staying closer to home,” said Milcarek. “They want to be just far enough that they can still come home [regularly].”
Uniformity among students is not a new issue for Fairfield. From 1998 to 2002, the number of students from states other than the New England and Middle Atlantic region has averaged at seven percent, peaking at only eight percent in 2001.
On campus, the Center for Multicultural Relations is an important resource for students who wish to celebrate their diversity. The goal of the center is “not to create diversity but to promote it,” according to Larri Mazon, director of the Center for Multicultural Relations.
“The race consciousness we experience as a culture is a learned process,” said Mazon. “Our obligation as an educational institution is to erase that, to unlearn that package of information that causes us to be race conscious.”
Several smaller student organizations exist within the Center and offer a forum for students to come together and embrace their culture, including the Asian Students Association (ASA) and Spanish and Latino Student Association (SALSA). These clubs are led by students and provide multicultural programming with both educational and social components, such as semi-formals and lectures (see sidebar).
Fairfield is relying on marketing techniques and admissions events to draw a more widespread radius of applicants during the search process, according to Milcarek. Placing ads in newspapers all over the country is only one method Fairfield is using to obtain more visibility nationwide.
Nevertheless, the task of creating a diversified student body does not lie solely in the hands of university officials.
“Creating an inclusive and open environment is an integral part of the mission of Fairfield as a Catholic, Jesuit University,” said Dreyer. “This work belongs not only to the admissions office and higher administration but to everyone, especially students and faculty.”
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