Dartmouth's efforts to promote diversity are notorious, but Black Enterprise Magazine left the College out of its ranking of the 50 best schools for black students while including comparable schools, such as Williams and Amherst colleges and all other Ivies except Princeton University.
The rankings were based on a survey of 1,855 black higher education administrators. Officials were asked to give "their assessments of the social and educational environments of the nation's colleges and universities for black students." The ratings were then categorized using U.S. News and World Report's protocol. Percentage of enrolled black students was also used as a factor.
President James Wright, who has made promoting diversity at the College a hallmark of his administration, expressed disappointment that Dartmouth did not make the rankings.
"I don't know why we weren't ranked," Wright said. "I can't explain it."
Wright speculated that the traditional perception of the College as a bastion of white male privilege might have kept it off the list.
"Dartmouth may have the vestiges of an historical problem," he said.
Director of Institutional Diversity Ozzie Harris questioned the validity of the ranking's methodology.
"As a parent of a student preparing for college, I am left with the realization that these types of survey may provide little meaning beyond reinforcing uninformed public perceptions."
Kevin Boakye '06, president of historically black Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, lauded the administration's efforts at making Dartmouth a comfortable place for black students. Boakye agreed with Wright's assessment that Dartmouth's history might be a liability.
"People like to draw on that and magnify that," Boakye said.
Boakye pointed out that the black Greek organizations, Alpha Phi Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta, accounted for 54 percent of all cultural activities on campus. "If facts like this were more widely disseminated, Dartmouth may have a different image," Boakye said.
"Dartmouth has covered a lot of ground," Boakye said, "and now it is for outsiders to take that into account,"
Still, African-American society Brian Sylvester '05 suggested that since many black students come from cities, transitioning to Dartmouth might be difficult.
Boakye, for his part, pointed to Dartmouth's location and lack of social and cultural options as a possible reason for Dartmouth's ranking.
But Harris believed that Dartmouth's location should be a bonus rather than a disadvantage.
"You would think that our success in attracting and retaining black students, given the current cache of urban culture, would speak volumes about Dartmouth's commitment to diversity and conscious desire to make our campus inviting and welcoming for black students," Harris told The Dartmouth.
Black students comprise 6 percent of the current enrollment. According to Harris, this percentage is comparable to those of universities in urban centers. Black students at Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania comprise also 6 percent of the total student population.
According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the 2003 black graduation rate at Dartmouth was 85 percent. This is comparable to other prestigious schools that made the rankings, including Harvard at 92 percent, Columbia at 82 percent and the University of Chicago at 74 percent.
Percentages and rankings aside, Sylvester said that a "separation" does exist on campus. "People don't necessarily feel comfortable. We don't have a whole lot of black students rushing fraternities and sororities like the general population."
However, Sylvester does think the College should have made the rankings. "There's no reason in my mind why Dartmouth shouldn't be on there," he said. "Generally people here really like the camaraderie in the environment."