Saint Anselm College has been working for several years on diversifying its campus and ensuring that acceptance is a guarantee for all of its students. Some examples of this work include climate assessments that date back to 2007 and the recently established President’s Steering Committee for Diversity and Inclusiveness.

The college’s website states that the most recent climate assessment in 2012, which gauges attitudes toward multiculturalism and tolerance, found “significant advances among students, faculty, and staff toward greater awareness and tolerance of diversity, as well as more desire for a welcome, inclusive environment.”

Though this is surely welcome news to administration, many have speculated that this devotion to encouraging diversity stems from a lack of it.

According to Forbes data from the 2015-2016 academic year, Saint A’s is 79.8 percent white, 12.3 percent unknown, and 2.9 percent Hispanic.  The male to female ratio is 40 to 60 percent.

The college website’s most recent breakdown of overall enrollment, conducted in the fall of 2014, agrees with the male and female breakdown, but cites slightly different numbers regarding ethnicity; 80 percent of enrolled students are white, 11.8 percent are unknown and 2.9 percent are Hispanic.  Though these numbers do not reveal staggering amounts of diversity, Professor Rajesh Prasad from the computer science department said it is also relative to the geographic location of Saint A’s.  “New Hampshire is not very diverse,” he told Crier staff.

Prasad, originally from India, stressed that he has never experienced or witnessed discrimination at Saint A’s and said “there are a lot of diverse students with different backgrounds as well who might feel the same.”

Prasad also noted that he feels the school makes sure that “no one gets special treatment” and does its best in “hiring people who are most qualified for a position.”

Professor Mihaela Malita, also of the Computer Science Department, is from Romania.  She agreed that the school works hard to encourage inclusiveness for all.

“The College does a good job in organizing so many events related to diversity and inviting faculty and students to participate,” she said.

In terms of computer science particularly, Malita even told Crier staff that Microsoft in Seattle hired a Vietnamese student out of Saint A’s after a series of interviews.

Though it is reassuring that faculty members do not feel marginalized or concerned about discrimination, recent current events and heated racial rhetoric in the 2016 presidential election have done little to assuage concerns about tolerance.  In order to ensure everyone feels accepted and valued in their communities, it is important to take note of the diversity we do have on campus, regardless of what the statistics online tell us.