Swarthmore College Top Questions

There are tons of organizations for whatever group you are interested in. Many discussions are held on campus, and you can really take full advantage of the diversity presented. The students are really laid back, and it's guaranteed that you will be accepted and respected on campus. There's tons of activism on campus, and you can chose to partake in that, or just devote yourself to your studies.

I think that most Swarthmore students accept that there is diversity in race, religion, LGBT, socio-economic, and other diversity on campus; however, I think that there is a difference between accepting the existence of diversity and becoming actually comfortable and approving of the persistence of this diversity. I think that there is enough diversity on campus that no type of student would feel out of place. Half of Swarthmore's population is not on any type of financial aid. We are predominantly left-wingers. I think that what we will earn in the future is not a consideration in the job that most Swatties decide to take.

School is pretty open and accomodating. Most people are liberal or they claim to be for fear of being dragged into a 3hour debate about the merits of liberalism with an overzealous classmate! There is an increasingly vocal group of moderates/conservatives on campus and I think its a great addition to the plurality of the school community.

Swarthmore students are very liberal, but most aren't in-you-face about it. Most students are intelligent and accepting.

I feel that sometimes certain groups like the Christian group is very repressed. I just personally think that as a Christian, that this group deserves a lot more respect. Many of the individuals on the campus feel as though they know everything about Christians and they don't.

Swarthmore has an extremely vocal left wing, which I think can lead to a lot of more conservative opinions being hushed, and those who hold those opinions being made to feel like they have no place here. In that sense, I think the common perspective here, though very liberal, is also very narrow-minded in a way- people aren't always willing to consider alternative arguments and perspectives, especially when they are closer to the right.

Conservatives beware. Really. Swarthmore is welcoming to everyone and anyone, so long as they're not registered as a Republican. Story: the College Republicans recently experienced a resurgence in activity (all five of them) and posted flyers all over campus advertising for their meeting. The flyers proclaimed that it was okay to "come out of the closet" as conservatives. A huge controversy built up over the use of the term "coming out" by Republicans, who are, as we all know, not generally queer-friendly. There were counter-flyers. There were chalkings. There were newspaper articles. Capiche? As an Arab student, I've personally been a bit disappointed by the lack of Middle Eastern students, and I'm sure there are plenty of people here who feel a little lonely for similar reasons. As I said before, such a small student body can't sustain large populations of every ethnicity. There are a lot of token minorities. Swat makes a huge effort at maintaining diversity, and usually does a pretty decent job. Of course, we all speak English really well, have most of the same politics, and come predominantly from the suburbs, but Admissions is doing what it can.

Very diverse campus culturally, but not so much in terms of thought. As in, most people are militant liberals. Republicans tend to feel really out of place, even attacked, as do social conservatives. There's a niche for pretty much anyone. That's one of the things I like--that social groups aren't exclusive.

The Intercultural Center on campus is kind of weak because there isn't that much administrative support.

Swarthmore's student body is mad small. Its like 1500 people at this school. Compared to other institutions, swarthmore is really small. Different types of students do interact, but since the school is so small, u see the same people over and over again.... like u in tha pen or somethin like that. But u gotta take the good with the bad. People are very socially conscious around here which is nice, which is good because it eliminates the amount of ignorance that is expressed at Swat.