Hendrix College Top Questions

Diversity: not that much racial diversity, lots and lots of white people. There's some religious diversity, and quite a bit of diversity in the sexuality/sexual orientation department (Hendrix is by far the most LGBT friendly place in the area). I'd say the majority of the diversity is socio-economic, because most of the students here receive some type of scholarship or financial aid, though sadly, many students are forced to transfer because tuition goes up every year and their scholarships remain the same, making it so that they're no longer able to pay for Hendrix (one of the reasons why Hendrix has around a 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} graduation rate). There's really almost every type of student here, even though the majority are white southern liberals, but I guess I'd say if you're conservative and come from a lot of money (like a lot a lot), like the classic southern fratboy or sorority girl, you'd feel out of place here. My main issue is that Hendrix students tend to pride themselves on how "open" and "welcoming" they are to everyone, but if you don't have a set group of friends by the end of your first semester, then, to put it bluntly, you're pretty much screwed socially. Because it is VERY difficult to break into another "friend group" after that period. People are nice and cordial to you and I'm sure if you are a very extroverted person, you can succeed in making friends with anyone and everyone, but if you're an introvert like me, then it's very hard to break into one of the tight knit cliques that Hendrix has after your first semester (when everyone is new and just getting to know each other).

For such a small student body, there is a lot of variety. It is hard to imagine someone coming to Hendrix and not feeling welcome, or not feeling like they fit in. We tend to be very open-minded, and we tend to lean to the left politically (but we do have a vocal group of conservatives). If you prefer to spend time with people who are just like you, this is not your school. Students are very accepting of people of all backgrounds, regardless of sexuality, religion, economic status, etc. Even though people do tend to form groups of friends that they spend most of their time with, there are not really rigid cliques that divide us. I have friends who study creative writing, politics, theater, and biology and who are gay, straight, and from all parts of the world. Most people at Hendrix could probably say the same. People here tend to be very engaged in their environment, whether that means helping plan events for the Social Committee (SoCo), working on a political campaign, or playing on the Quidditch team. If students feel strongly about a proposed policy on campus, they make their voices heard.

Hendrix is an incredibly accepting environment, and it asks that each of its students maintain that level of acceptance. True, it's a mostly vanilla school, but Hendrix is diverse in the truest sense of the word: Students from across the country and around the world study here, so it's not like we're all middle class suburban white kids. My roommate this year is from Iceland, and one of my favorite new friends from working Orientation is from China. I had never met so many LGBT people before I came to school, NOT something that you might expect from a small school in the middle of Arkansas. So if you're closed-off to people of different beliefs and lifestyles, don't come here expecting to find people with that same mindset. A religiously-pushy, collar-popping racist would feel out of place at Hendrix. Don't worry if you're just a collar-popper like me, you'll only get a little bit of grief about it!

We're incredibly accepting here. True, it's a mostly vanilla school. Students from across the country and around the world study here, so it's not like we're all middle class suburban white kids. My roommate this year is from Iceland, and some of the most brilliant physics kids are from Rwanda. I had never met so many LGBT people before I came to school here; like I said, Hendrix is an incredibly accepting environment. So if you're closed-off to people of different beliefs and lifestyles, don't come here expecting to find people with that same mindset. A religiously-pushy, collar-popping racist would feel out of place here. Don't worry though, if you're just a collar-popper like me, you'll only get a little bit of grief about it!

Many students are sheltered.

Very open to various ideals and perspectives on life as well as very educated in their area of study as well as the world around them.

We're a pretty white dominated school, but coming from the very white NH there is a lot more diversity here than in a lot of other places. We are associated with the Methodist church but you can find someone from every part of the religious spectrum on campus. You can find far-right wingers to far-left wingers and everything in-between. We have a good deal of international students and exchange students on campus. We are very LGBT friendly and have a solid ally community. The Hendrix community is so open and welcoming to all types of diversity, sometimes I wish that we had even more.

They are kind of pretentious, but over all very nice.

We're incredibly accepting here. True, it's a mostly white school. But I think that's got more to do with the fact that we're in Arkansas than anything else. Thirteen countries are represented in the student body, so it's not like we're all upper-middle class white kids, but if we're being real, we've got a very vanilla population. I had never met so many LGBT people before I came to school here; like I said, Hendrix is an incredibly accepting environment. So if you're not down with the homos, don't come here expecting to find people with that same mindset. A hyper-religious, bigoted, collar-popping racist would feel out of place here (as a collar-popper, I get all kinds of crap, but it's friendly).

My classmates are incredible; every student at Hendrix is unique, open-minded, intelligent, and a lot of fun.