Haverford College Top Questions

My classmates are a group of primarily white, upper middle and upper class kids mostly from the northeastern United States; many of them are Quakers, many of them are hardworking, many of them are kind of uptight, and a good few try not to take themselves/their work too seriously.

Meg is a junior Psychology major at Haverford College.

I don't like to make generalizations but I'm going to do it to describe, if possible, if we averaged all Haverford students into one person. This one person would be slightly more female than male and be mostly white, but one third of color. The amalgam student would probably be moderately liberal in terms of political views. Haverperson would be confused about religion, but most of the time would be atheist or agnostic but with serious respect for the Quakers. Haverperson would wear jeans and a t-shirt to class and only really dress up on the weekend. For this reason, you're going to have a hard time telling Haverperson's socio-economic class. He/She would be involved in two or three clubs and probably still get emails from a club that he or she signed up for but has no time to attend. He or she would probably chose to party every other weekend, but the Haverperson knows that he or she will be respected if he or she choses to drink or not to drink, as long as he or she doesn't go overboard. I hope that this is understandable and helpful!

very liberal college. Lots of clubs and activites dealing with racial and sexual diversity. Wide range of social classes as well, though a majority are pretty well off. Financial aid isn't super great, but that's about to change, and with that change the makeup of the student body will as well (i expect). most students are politically aware. students are very casual - no one really dresses up. very down to earth. people go to dinner in their pajamas. no one is really pretentious or preepy. there's a joke that haverford's student body isn't very attractive so anyone who is considered cute at haverford is average int he real world, anyone hot is above average in the real world and anyone ugly must be actually repulsive. there is NO dating scene at haverford - everyone laments this fact.

Haverford is generally really open-minded and accepting. However, in terms of truly being open, that's another story. As a member of the LGBT community at Haverford, I never faced any blatant homophobia. However, there seemed to be a lack of complete support. People were tolerant of my sexual orientation, but didn't go out of their way to fully support me. I did find my own communities of support-- SAGA (sexuality and gender alliance) meetings, COQw (community of queer women), the women's frisbee team, and my own circle of friends (made up of queer and straight friends alike.) So, people can find support- they just have to look for it. SAGA hosts several events throughout the year, and helps make Haverford more aware of issues in the LGBT community, but I do wish people went out of their way to be more supportive of the LGBT issues and community. In terms of race and class issues, as I mentioned above, there is a lot of underground tension. People are not blatantly racist, but instead people tend to avoid talking about issues related to race or class. I helped found a group called The Alliance, that provides a safe space for people to talk about issues surrounding diversity, and there are several other groups on campus that discuss issues around race. However, outside of these private meeting spaces, race discussion hardly occurs (except if a big incident occurs), and if it does occur, it's hardly ever between groups of people of differing racial backgrounds. Class as an issue, is a huge problem on campus. Haverford is a mostly upper-middle-class school with students mostly from NJ/NY/CT, with a lot of people from privileged backgrounds, but because (as with other issues) Haverford students don't like making people feel uncomfortable, they avoid talking about class. As a result, tensions surrounding class issues lie under the surface at Haverford, with not many discussions surrounding class occurring. However, I found that in the more socially-active communities on campus, people recognized the importance for dialogue and were more willing to engage in discussions surrounding these more controversial issues. I found this on the frisbee team, as well as with the women with whom I did Women In Action (a women's support and activist group on campus), and among a lot of the people involved in the other activist groups on campus. So, it's just a matter, once again, of finding awareness and support for talking about these issues. In general, while Haverfordians can be uncomfortable talking about controversial issues, they seem to care about the world as a whole, and want to do their part to make it better. People often end up doing non-profit work when they graduate, and don't seem to care about making a lot of money. Every summer, numerous people travel to countries around the world to participate in non-profit service, too. People at Haverford care about being socially responsible not only at Haverford, but beyond Haverford, too. While we joke at Haverford about being stuck in the "Haverbubble" and being separate from the wide world-- in this safe, tiny bubble of intellectual, nice people-- people do seem to care about politics, and being accepting. People tend to be liberal as a whole. As a liberal on campus, I felt really comfortable being liberal, but I've heard that conservatives feel a lot less comfortable being conservative on campus. We joke that it's easier to come out as gay than as republican. I knew a few republicans, so they do exist in the open!-- but the "out" republicans were few in number. The others must have kept it more quiet. It also definitely depends on the social circle, as I was not friends with a lot of varsity athletes, but knew of more conservatives on some of the varsity teams, than the communities of which I was a part. I should also acknowledge, however, that though I wasn't friends with a ton of varsity athletes, I did have a few friends on some varsity teams. There was constant debate the whole time I was at Haverford about the significance of the divide between the artists and athletes. I think there is a general divide between the communities, (and I'm completely generalizing here) not only in terms of the interests, but in the style (the artists tended to dress in a more hipster fashion, the athletes tended to be preppier), and in general socializing style (the artists tended to go to concerts, while the athletes tended to host larger frat-style parties). However, it is possible to have friends in different communities, and just because someone is an artist or an athlete (obviously) doesn't mean that they person falls into these stereotypes.

Good people. Solidly in class, out, and on the weekends, GOOD PEOPLE.

What kind of student would feel out of place at Haverford? That's a good question to ask, and it's actually one of the most hotly debated issues at Haverford. I think the most alienated group at Haverford is the political conservatives. As people, they fit in just fine. I'm pretty good friends with three and a fourth is definitely a "Havercelebrity" (...Haverford has its own vocabulary). But in political debates they are usually shot down and they're dissatisfied with that. Hopefully that will change in the future.

Most of the students are white, but I also think most of them are welcoming of differences. There is a lot of homogeneity in the school: mostly white, middle class, from the east (New Jersey, Maryland/DC). As someone who fits into these categories, I'm probably not a great judge, but I think most people are accepting of everybody else, although devout Christians and Republicans are most likely to attract disparaging remarks (even, I hear, from some professors).

Haverford students are definitely left-leaning, intelligent, athletic and laid-back. The school is more athletic than I thought it would be but in the typical Haverford way everyone is interested in taking care of themselves and living a balanced lifestyle. People tend to come from a large range of socio-economic backgrounds, although the dominant culture seems to be fairly wealthy. There are lots of affinity groups that receive support from students on campus.

The student body is very open and accepting of different people. Quirky, geeky, and normal nice people are all appreciated.