Lehigh University

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Majors: Psychology and Health Medicine & Society double major
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Biracial: Black and Native American Straight Male

Summary

I’m on a [varsity sports team], and I’m part of a leadership program through athletics. I’m also on the Student Senate.

Background

Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Biracial: Black and Native American
Sexual Orientation: Straight

High School Experience: Preparatory high school in Pittsburgh, PA with a graduating class of about 70 students. There was a culture of going to college
First-Generation College Student: No
Majors: Psychology and Health Medicine & Society double major
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I’m on a [varsity sports team], and I’m part of a leadership program through athletics. I’m also on the Student Senate.
Have any of your extracurricular activities had a particularly big impact on your experience?
[My sport] is why I’m at the school. I made a very good relationship with the coaches and since then I’ve felt myself growing as a better person and [athlete]. I’m learning how to manage my time better, how to deal with diversity, teammates, and people that aren’t the same as me. I joined the Student Senate this past semester, and since then I’ve been on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. We work on ways to make the campus more inclusive. We host events and have table discussions around campus.

Academic Experience

Can you describe the weekly coursework for your major?
I’m taking 16 credits this semester. During the week I’ll probably have a test or two quizzes. For recitation, I usually have a paper a week, and for one of my 300-level classes, I’ll have another paper or two a week. I’ll usually have a test every two weeks. Tests and presentations make up the bulk of my grades.
Is there anything you feel your majors’ departments do especially well or poorly?
The class I’m in now is the first cohort of a new program for our Research Methods sequence. I think that’s pretty cool because before it was squeezed into two classes over two semesters, but now we have it over three semesters. That’s helping everyone learn research methods, statistics, psychology, and statistics.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s definitely competitive. I got used to that in high school, and when I got here it was the same thing but on steroids. Everyone was even smarter, but I use it as motivation to make sure I’m on top of my work. I’m a natural competitor so I don’t like to have anyone doing anything better than me so that helps.
The course-load is pretty challenging. People in my class try getting better grades than each other. I have a few friends in my classes so if they got a better grade than me I’ll be motivated to do better in that class.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re all pretty accessible, some more than others. For one of my classes, one of my professors is a doctor so she works at the hospital 10-minutes from us. She’s less accessible because after class she goes to the hospital to work all day.
What is your favorite part of Lehigh academically?
All the adversity and challenges I’ve been faced with since I got here, especially in-season when it’s a lot harder. Getting through that and finding a way to get stuff done while playing [my sport] is what I feel best about.
Why did you pick your majors? Are you happy with your choice?
I took AP Psychology during my senior year of high school to try it out. Ever since then, I’ve fallen in love with it, because I like learning the way people think and why they do what they do. I stayed with it because of the challenges that came with it. Health Medicine & Society is a small major, so they told me I should double it up with something, so I picked Psychology. I knew I wanted to study something in health, and that was the most health-related major they have. I like how it’s not just all science or all public health, it’s a mix. I’m happy with both of my majors.
How is managing both your sport and coursework?
Late nights and early mornings. With multiple hours dedicated to being a Division I athlete throughout the week, you have to sacrifice some sleep or relaxing time to get things done.

Reasons to Attend

1) It’s a great university and academically challenges you.
2) The great alumni relationship we have.
3) Having a Lehigh degree is looked at as something big. Despite being small, a lot of people know us for how challenging and great of a school it is.
4) It’s a small, private university so I feel like you can use that as a plus in getting to know more people around you. I value networking pretty high, which is why anytime I’m out walking around I make sure I say hi to people.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) At times, Bethlehem can be an unsafe environment. A lot of times there’s something crazy going on right off-campus so our students can feel vulnerable or unsafe. [There are about 102 crimes per square mile in Bethlehem, which is higher than the Pennsylvania median of 47 and the national median of 31.1.]
2) Because of the lack of diversity, Lehigh’s culture has become unaccepting of people on campus who are different.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Dravo House with two of my teammates
Sophomore: Broadhead House in a single with three suitemates
Junior & Senior: Off-campus house two blocks from campus with three housemates
How was transitioning from Pittsburgh to Bethlehem, PA in terms of location?
It was pretty unique for me because I had a rural environment background from high school. I felt like I had the most difficult part of the transition in high school already when I left New York City to go to high school. I didn’t know anybody and the course work was hard, so that got me ready.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I’ve never felt threatened while being on campus. Bethlehem doesn’t compare to where I grew up in New York City, so I don’t feel threatened. On top of that, I’m always with somebody. There are times campus can feel a little sketchy or unsafe, but the police department does a good job notifying us when something has happened.

Social Opportunities

What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you participate in at Lehigh?
We always play on Saturdays, so after my games, I like to wait until the film is uploaded and start critiquing myself and analyzing the game. Aside from that, the bars off-campus around town are a pretty big part of the nightlife on campus. House parties are a big thing too, the fraternities usually host them. As a guy not in a fraternity, it’s not that easy to get into the fraternity parties. I sometimes feel like it’s also because I’m a Black male trying to get into some White fraternity parties. There’s also a pretty significant diversity issue on campus, which is why I joined the diversity and inclusion committee. I’m slowing trying to fix that problem. You can definitely see that issue, even when some of my teammates and I try getting into a fraternity they won’t let us in. Even if we have girls with us, which is usually your way in, they usually say no so I don’t try anymore. If I go out, it’s to the local bars or with my team. [See The Brown and White article, “Editorial: We all bear the burden”]
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
There are two pretty good movie theatres not far from campus. I really like seeing whatever new movie is out. Around the theatres, there are a whole bunch of other places to eat, both fast foot or nice sit-down restaurants.
How happy are you with the weekend options at Lehigh? Is there anything you would change about them if you could?
The getting into the fraternity party issues could be resolved. That’s hard because it’s who you are as a person, and that culture has been on our campus forever so it’s pretty hard to change. [See The Brown and White article, “CORE report recognizes Greek, non-Greek divide.”]

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
[My team], of course. Everyone on the team is like a brother to me. We train, practice, play, eat, and study together all year round. Even throughout the summer, we’re on campus together training and taking classes. I do have some friends on campus who aren’t athletes, but that’s just from me being an outgoing person and saying hi to people I encounter.
How would you describe the overall social scene?
I think it’s pretty fun and active. You barely find nights when nothing is happening, even if it’s just some type of club doing an event where you go come in and eat free food, play games, watch a movie, or go roller skating.
To what extent do you feel people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
That’s hard because we have such a low percentage of minorities on campus. It’s hard to not just stick together with your group or whoever looks like you, or who’s doing what you’re doing. You can see blending in happening through efforts, but if it’s not your intention to blend in with other people, then it doesn’t happen that much. I like hanging out with everybody. [The undergraduate population is 62% White, 9% Hispanic, 8% Asian, and 4% Black or African American.]
How would you describe the African American community on campus? How strong is it?
It’s definitely strong, but because of how small it is, it almost counters that. With the numbers we have, we make sure our voice gets heard when needed, which is a good amount of the time. I remember last spring there was a protest led by Black people on campus and it had a good turnout, even from people of other races.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
I feel like it’s common for them to not be friends with people who aren’t in Greek life, but that’s often not the case. Most people on campus are in Greek life or are close to someone in Greek life. Greek life hangs out with Greek life more than anybody else, but you can still see them mixing with non-Greek life people.
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.]
It’s definitely a smaller school, but I don’t think it affects me too much. I feel like [at a bigger school] it would be harder to access teachers in my free time, or it would be harder to raise my hand in class with more people. A bigger school would bring more people from diverse backgrounds which would be nice, but how we are now isn’t a big problem.

Careers

What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
They were super helpful when I came in my freshman year. I had a lot of questions about what I wanted to do. They paved the way for me to start knowing how to do more research on my own in what I find interesting. They helped me find what was available on campus.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
Yeah, the [Research Methods and Data Analysis sequence] is a plus.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, accommodating was the office to your needs?
I’ve been using them for the past few weeks because I’m studying abroad this winter term. The athletic department agreed to help pay for it which I thought was pretty cool. They’ve helped clarify things I wasn’t sure of and they did most of the work for me.