Lehigh University

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Sociology
Minor: Africana Studies
Student Self Identifies as: Black Female

Summary

I [have a leadership position] in the Black Student Union (BSU) and I also have an on-campus job.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Black

High School Experience: All-girls public school in East Harlem, NY with a graduating class of about 80 students. There was a culture of going to college
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Sociology
Minor: Africana Studies
Extracurricular Activities: I [have a leadership position] in the Black Student Union (BSU) and I also have an on-campus job.
Have any of your extracurricular activities had a particularly big impact on your experience?
I’d say both of them have had an impact. The BSU is a known club on campus so I’m doing a lot of behind the scenes work to pull off great events and put out a lot of good content with my team. The main thing with [my job] is working with programs for prospective students called [The Diversity Achievers Program (DAP)] and Diversity Life Weekend. It’s coming full circle because I did that when I was a prospective student, so now I get to tell other students my story and they can judge if they want to come here or not.

Academic Experience

Can you describe the weekly coursework for your major?
It’s a lot of readings and essays.
Is there anything you feel the Sociology department does especially well or poorly?
They’re very accessible if you need to talk to someone. It might not be my particular advisor, but there’s always someone I can talk to.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s a little bit of both. I’d say Lehigh is very grade-oriented so people focus a lot of grades here. I think there’s a lot of collaborating outside of the classroom because a lot of people do work together to get work done and to make sure everyone understands things.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re pretty accessible. If you email them they’ll reply pretty quickly.
Do you feel that people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
I think [if there is an opposing opinion to the consensus in the classroom], it’s more so academic disagreement. There are times when conversations can get heated, but for the most part, people are open-minded and hear the other side’s view of whether they agree with it or not, and that’s how you grow.
What is your favorite part of Lehigh academically?
I like that even though you might be in a specific discipline, you get to touch every major. Even though I’m a Sociology major, I have to take a math and science class, along with humanities classes. It’s well-rounded.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I chose my major because I want to go to law school and I feel like sociology will give me a better look at the world. It’s the study of people and how they operate, so I feel like it’ll give me a benefit on how to handle law cases. I’ll be more objective in the way I look at clients, I won’t just judge them off of preconceived notions.

Reasons to Attend

1) There are really good academics.
2) The social diversity of the campus.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) The amount of walking.
2) The lack of sensitive from higher-ups toward lower-income people.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Dravo House in a single.
Sophomore: Creative Vibes community in Warren Square A in a single
Junior: Off-campus house with three other people.
How was transitioning from New York City to Lehigh, PA in terms of location?
It was a big transition last year because life is so much slower than back home. I have to get used to the fact that things close early and at a certain time of night I won’t see a lot of people outside. Another big thing was interacting with different races. Back home, most people look the same, so coming to Lehigh and being a minority was kind of a hard transition. After about a year I got used to it.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I’ve never felt unsafe. I feel like I can walk anywhere without incident.

Social Opportunities

What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you participate in at Lehigh?
I go out sometimes and hang out with friends. We go to more kickback-type stuff at my house or at a dorm on Fridays and Saturdays. The parties off-campus are very separated. We have the East side and the West side. The West side host the multicultural parties. There are a lot of Black parties every weekend.
What’s an alternative to going to a party that you like for a night out?
If Lehigh After Dark looks interesting I’ll go, or if I know people in a particular club I’ll go to their events.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
I think the Panhellenic Greeks definitely control the East side of campus. The majority of parties that happen on the East side of campus are Greek-related. That’s a whole different world than I’m used to.
How happy are you with the weekend options at Lehigh? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
I wish we had a party every weekend. Not to say I would go out every weekend, but it would be nice to have the option.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
I think the best friends come by accident. You meet somebody one day, click on the first day, then hang out again and again.
How would you describe the overall social scene?
It’s a very social campus and there’s something to do no matter what you like to do. I like to party, but there are other people more into academics that go out and have their own group of friends. I feel like there’s always something for someone to do no matter what.
To what extent do you feel people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I have an extremely diverse friend group. It’s from Black, White, Asian, gay, lesbian, and straight. I got lucky to have such a diverse group and I’m grateful for them. There are people who don’t have that and only hang out with a homogeneous group of people.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
I don’t think it happens very often, and I think it depends on the tier of the sorority and fraternity. I have a friend in a lower-tier sorority so I hang out with her a lot. She talks to me about higher-tiered sororities and those girls only hang out with themselves. [See The Brown and White article, “CORE report recognizes Greek, non-Greek divide.”]
How do you like the size of Lehigh in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has that impacted your experience? [Lehigh has about 5,200 undergraduate students.]
I think it’s big and small. I see new faces every day I go outside, but I see a lot of familiar faces also. I don’t feel overwhelmed by the number of people here. I feel like because they’re expanding the school, once that happens it won’t feel as family-oriented.
Do people generally seem happy with their choice of Lehigh by senior year? Do people leave loving Lehigh?
I think yes. I have a lot of friends who are seniors and throughout the year they say they hate it, but now that they’re approaching their final semester they’re sad they’re leaving. I think people generally like it.
How would you describe the African American community on campus? How strong is it?
There is a big group of people who are involved and have a community, then there are some who aren’t part of that. There are some cracks in the overall African American community.

Careers

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, accommodating was the office to your needs?
Generally, if you call them or go in, you can get your questions answered most of the time.