Prudy Whalen

Professor Stambolis
SOC 240
Theme Sheet
April 26, 2016

Name of Concept: Student Demographics

Initially, I was not expecting to deeply analyze the demographics of the high schools that
my interviewees attended. It was simply a question that I had on my interview sheet so that I
could gain a deeper understanding of the upbringing and background of the interviewee, but as
the interviews went on, I began to notice a pattern. Out of the seven interviews with students of
color that I have conducted so far, only two of them attended high schools where the majority of
the students were not white one school being primarily Latino, the other black, and both public.
Coincidentally, these two students were among those that are involved with the Why We Wear
Black Movement on Dickinson Colleges campus, with one student being one of the faces of the
movement. It is also important to note that these two students identify as being a part of the
lower, working class.
The other five students attended high schools where the majority of the students were
white. Of those five students, three are not involved in the movement on campus. These three
students identify with being part of the lower-middle to upper-middle class. The other two
students that went to schools with mostly white students identified as being a part of the lower
class, although it is important to note that one of these two students attended a prestigious public
school where diversity was never an issue. One student was particularly interesting because
although she stated that she attended a school with mostly white students, she primarily hung out
with other people of color. However, this was something that she attributed to growing up in and
around the city of Chicago and, according to her, had nothing to do with her the demographics of
her high school.

Prudy Whalen
Professor Stambolis
SOC 240
Theme Sheet
April 26, 2016

All of these things relate to my research question because the goal of my research was to
find out if there was a correlation between a students socioeconomic background and their
upbringing. My fault was not understanding or realizing the fact that the demographics of
somebodys high school counts as upbringing, because high school is a time during which people
grow and figure out who is it they really are. In recognizing this, I was able to deepen my
understanding of the interviews that I compiled and discover a correlation and pattern that I was
not expecting to.
QUOTES:
Oh, yes. So majority of the students are white. I think theres also a big Latino population, but
majority of them are white. And theres very, very, very small black population.
There was never no question like, I was looked at as Tonya, not the black girl and all this stuff
until I came to Dickinson. So its interesting to see how, you know, you dont have to be Im
not asking Dickinson to be an HBCU. I would have gone to one had I wanted to do that. My high
school was a space where there was diversity, I was cool with white people. I have nothing
against them, Im not a separationist. Im not against white people at all. But, I was cool with
them and there was a bond there, and there was respect. Thats whats lacking here.
Um, I think it was similar to Dickinson*. It definitely didnt feel like it was similar also like
my high school and Dickinson, we have the same amount of students.
*Dickinson is about 70% white

It was mostly Latino populations. But in particular a lot of Dominicans as well as Puerto
Ricans. But yeah, small percentage of black people went to my school. I think it was like two
white people. No it was one.
Yeah. Well Im thinking about senior year. There was one person in my class who was white.
Camille. He was cool. We played soccer together, thats how I knew him. He was a good

Prudy Whalen
Professor Stambolis
SOC 240
Theme Sheet
April 26, 2016

basketball player too. The only white person. But over my four years, Ive seen sporadically
people from my high school. But it was mostly Latino and black.
Not really. Im from Princeton, NJ and thats a predominately white town. But, the university
has a huge presence on Princeton and they advocate for diversity and acceptance and everything
and so no. I didnt really hear that much about there was always groups that were trying to
lift up the minorities and making sure that they went to school and they were doing well and they
had a presence in the town, but there wasnt that much social justice. There wasnt a lot to protest
for or anything.
Sure. My high school is in The Loop of Chicago. We really get a good mix of all kinds of
students. Its a private school, so we have a lot of African-American students, white people, um,
Asians. The minorities. The racial makeup is pretty even. Classes were really small, though. I
had more black friends in high school than I do at Dickinson College, I guess thats really
important to say.
Yeah it was a public high school. There werent that many people of color there. I remember for
most of my classes, I was the only black student or person of color. But at the same time, I didnt
really get that much I wasnt really discriminated against. No one was really mean to me. We
all kind of seemed to get along. Now theres like stuff going on which I dont really know much
about, but I just hear it through Facebook and stuff. When I was there it was just kinda chill.
People were extremely accepting. But like, educational wise, there was still a gap between the
students of color and then the white students.
People were extremely accepting. But like, educational wise, there was still a gap between the
students of color and then the white students.