Urban Education

Bowdoin desired to create a “spirited and diverse” community of “students with different talents, of differing backgrounds, different places and with different points of view.” Bowdoin identified admitting students from the “inner-city and the ghetto” to its campus as necessary to the representation it seeks for its campus.

An “overseer” sees Bowdoin’s initiatives to admit “poor black youngsters” as “heroic.” While financial aid has allowed for greater representation of minorities and economic classes that otherwise would not be able to afford a Bowdoin Education, the language used strikes a paternalistic tone.

By creating an admission policy in which SAT scores are optional, Bowdoin is attempting to allow for a more holistic admission process and increasing the diversity of students admitted from minority and low-income backgrounds.

  

The Admissions Office and Afro-American Society sponsor a “Weekend for Black Prospective Freshmen” to target black high school seniors to attend Bowdoin and increase diversity. As the Assistant Director of Admission notes, the “number of black freshmen at Bowdoin is embarrassingly low (six).”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Weekend for Black Perspective Freshmen” turned into the “Weekend for Minority Students.” The Afro-American Society still is involved in the program, but the program no longer targets just black students, but minorities of all racial backgrounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Weekend for Minority Students” turned into “The Bowdoin Experience.” The program invites low-income, first-generation, and minority students to experience Bowdoin. The Bowdoin Experience happens at the same time as “Admitted Students’ Weekend”.