Gettysburg College Top Questions

Here is the section where steretypical Gettysburg comes into play. The students are mostly all middle or upper-class caucasians, so minority students, whether it be racial, socio-economic, or some other group, often feel out of place on campus even though they might form friendships with typical Gettysburg students. There are groups for almost every type of minority represented on campus, but I think that these groups further exclude them from the main social atmosphere. There is not really any prejudice exhibited between students, however, and the lack of acceptance is more subtle than outright. Students are not really politically active or into any specific causes because campus life seems to take precedence over the outside world.

Alot of activites go on trying to encourage diversity and unique personalities but to be honest there are very few colored students and they often choose to stick with people of their own color. If a student wants to integrate it's easy but it's often their own choice not to.

Gettysburg is not a very diverse school as compared to its urban counterparts. Because of the cost of the school, the student body mosty comes from an upper middle class economic background. The campus has small but active political orgainizations with the majority of the student body being more conservative versus the professors who are more liberal.

For someone who came from a very diverse community and grew up with a very diverse class, the lack of racial and ethnic diversity at Gettysburg was a bit frustrating. There was a joke on our floor freshman year that the only two black kids were actually African (and they really were -- both foreign students from Kenya). The racial minoirities also generally kept to themselves, which I can't say is something I'd ever experienced growing up. All of the cliques in my high school were still cliques -- but race wasn't a factor. There were white, black, Asian, Hispanic kids in each of them. At Gettysburg, however, the cliques were clearly drawn along racial lines. I don't think it's as frustrating for some people who didn't come from the same social climate that I did, but I certainly noticed a frustrating difference in race relations on campus. Like I said, the stereotype that most Gettysburg students look as if they just walked out of a J.Crew catalog is true. But I don't think that has anything to do with diversity of thought on campus. Yes, the student body leans heavily to the right politically, but they are still an active group of students who speak up for many different causes (not just political ones). Most Gettysburg students hail from PA, NJ, and Long Island/Westchester. I knew one kid from Chicago and another from Colorado. The two international students I knew were both from Kenya. But the overwhelming majority are from the tri-state (PA/NJ/NY). Most have money and obviously haven't had to work very hard to earn it for themselves. (How else can you look like you've walked out of a J.Crew catalog?)

Mainly wasps. Few minorities are represented loudly despite their small numbers. Something for everyone.

Gettysburg has a good group of kids, from local kids, national kids, and exchange students. People interested in deeper things should find their group, because the average group is snobby and preppy. That being said, there are plenty of cool people around, just seek out organizations you'd think like minded individuals would join (theatre, service, etc)

gburg is white. there's no way around that. the campus is utterly undiverse and there have been some outright racist events in the last couple of years, at least one of which resulted in an expulsion. there's a struggle between the groups advocating diversity and the --well--white people, because the white people claim that there's nothing wrong with teh campus and the minorities feel underrepresented and sometimes poorly treated. also, most of the campus comes from money, quite a lot of it. personally I come from an urban/suburban area, and the J. Crew sameness of everyone wears on me after a while. however, that isn't to say that everyone is the same, because they're not, and i found it easy to find friends. still, it's something to consider, particularly if you're a minority. great school for its academics but not for its diversity. also, a lot of students don't need scholarships or financial aid to afford gburg's ridiculous tuition prices (went up a lot in recent years), so they don't care as much for their academics because as long as they don't get kicked out of school, they don't have to worry. this is frustrating to people who need reams of financial aid and scholarships and consider themselves incredibly lucky just to be there--people who want their classmates to put in the same effort as them (particularly in a writing class where group workshops are so crucial).

Describing the student body is pretty much done through the stereotype of a prep school. Financially, people are well off. People tend to come from the backgrounds of high-paid chief executives. Typically the students that feel out of place are the international students and that’s mainly because their thrown into a completely different culture. However, because the college is predominately white, racial diversity is not very strong. The campus itself is very liberal and the student body has a pretty balanced mix of Democrats and Republicans. Although the racial background of the campus is shallow, the student body is as diverse as can be and because of this you’ll have the opportunity to interact with a wide range of people.

Though Gettysburg has a mostly white, middle to upper class student body, we still have a lot of diversity. We have representation from many countries and states. Because we are so small, it's very easy to get to know a lot of people and find the group you fit in with. We are a relatively conservative campus compared to many other colleges, but there is still definitely political awareness from both sides.

Here's the thing, this school is predominantly white. I'm talking like 85-90{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} white. For me, that isn't a big deal, I'm white. But it still took me by surprise, and still does from time to time, how white-sided, (oops) one-sided this campus is. Coming from Philadelphia public school, where the word "minority" was hard to apply to any group, it was almost a culture shock coming to this mostly white, mostly right-winged school. All my liberal friends in Philly made fun of me for going here, because I'm a liberal, and Gettysburg has a rep for being pretty conservative. It's true, for the most part it is. I'd say 65{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the school is relatively conservative. But you won't find many radicals from either side of the political isle here. Everyone is pretty chill when it comes to those things. Probably half of my friends are conservative, but we get along just fine. There is more to life and friendship than politics. But that's not to say it isn't important and prominent throughout the campus. Many students here are both politically aware and active. But a lot aren't. As for the distribution of income, this place can be pretty one-sided in that area too. There is a lot of money on this campus. There are A LOT of students from well-to-do families from places like New England, New York and New Jersey here, and it shows. Prep schools seem to be a common denominator between many of the students here. But there is also a healthy mix of middle class as well, (people like me!). For some students, its obvious that they're well off, and for others, its obvious that they're struggling to even pay the tuition to come here. There are a lot of hard workers here on campus, and a lot of slackers too. But I would definitely say that the former far surpasses the latter, and that shows too. After all, this is life, and there are always going to be both.