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Multicultural Profile

St. Lawrence University, a private coeducational liberal arts and sciences college in northern New York State, offers 34 academic majors, plus a self-constructed multifield major, and 34 minors (www.stlawu.edu/academics.html). Among the most popular majors are English, psychology, biology, economics and sociology; among the newest are global studies, neuroscience, and biochemistry. African studies, Asian studies, Native American studies, and Caribbean and Latin American studies are some of the University’s popular “area studies” programs (www.stlawu.edu/ciis/html/off_campus/index.html). St. Lawrence also offers study programs in 14 foreign countries, among them Kenya, Costa Rica, Japan, Spain and Trinidad and Tobago, with the newest program in Shanghai, China (www.stlawu.edu/ciis/index.html). Students may also study in 20 other countries through St. Lawrence’s membership in the International Student Exchange Program.

St. Lawrence also offers 32 varsity sports, more than many colleges of its size and type (www.stlawu.edu/sports/sports.html); 16 are for men, 15 for women and one, equestrian, is coeducational. The latter is a non-NCAA sport; among the rest, all are in Division III except men’s and women’s ice hockey, which are both Division I.

Other off-campus study opportunities include the Adirondack Semester, at a remote site in the Adirondack Mountains (www.stlawu.edu/outdoor/newadsem.htm); a semester at American University in Washington, D.C.; and an exchange program with Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn.

While non-sectarian today, St. Lawrence was founded in 1856 by the Universalists (today’s Unitarian-Universalists), who believed firmly in equality and the inherent dignity of all people. That philosophical heritage continues to energize St. Lawrence in the 21st century.

St. Lawrence’s approximately 2,150 students, nearly evenly divided between men and women, come from approximately 40 states and 20 nations. Multicultural students make up about 7 percent of the student body, and are active in all aspects of campus life. For example, the current president of the student government organization (www.stlawu.edu/%7Ethelmo/) is an African-American. Student-led organizations revolving around multicultural themes include AHORA (A Hispanic Organization Raising Awareness), the Black Student Union, the Black Cultural Center, SABHA (the South Asia Bollywood and Holiday Association), the Jewish Student Union, the Native American Student Organization, the International Affairs Association and PRIDES (People Recognizing Individuality, Diversity, and Equality of Sexuality) (www.stlawu.edu/clubs/html). At St. Lawrence it is easy for students to form interest groups, and students regularly take advantage of this opportunity. Multicultural residences include La Casa Latina, the Black Women’s Residence, the Intercultural House and International House (www.stlawu.edu/reslife/index1.htm).

St. Lawrence’s faculty and staff are committed to interaction among individuals of all ethnic, racial, cultural and social backgrounds as a key cornerstone of a liberal arts education. Current faculty and staff members come from India, Nigeria, Kenya, Italy, Sierra Leone, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Poland and Ecuador, among others.

Cultural activities on campus also carry forward this principle. A semester-long festival celebrating diversity during spring 2002 brought to campus the South African musical group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, an art exhibition on the Virgin of Guadalupe, lectures on the feminine deities of India, Nepalese drumming, an African-American feminist interpretation of Christian symbolism, and a klezmer band. Other cultural events in recent years have included presentations by leading African writers and activists Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe (www.stlawu.edu/english/writers%20series%200203.htm), a talk by African American scholar Manning Marable, readings by poet Edimilson de Almeida Perreira and novelist Esmeralda Santiago, dance concerts by Conjunto Céspedes and the Sikumiut Inuit Dancers and Drummers, and construction of a sand mandala by Buddhist monks. The four-year-long Pluralism and Unity project, funded by a major grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, was designed “to bridge our extensive academic achievements in intercultural studies with the day-to-day real lives of our students, faculty, and staff, in order to achieve a more inclusive campus climate and broader sense of community”; while the project formally concluded in spring 2002, it has set the tone for discussion and action on campus for years to come (www.stlawu.edu/Hewlett/index.html). A $1 million grant from the Freeman Foundation has made possible the Asian Studies Initiative, which sponsors cultural events focused on Asia, faculty development seminars on Asia, student travel to Asia for language study, and faculty/student research trips to Asia (stlawu.edu/asian/html/about.html).

Several programs in place at St. Lawrence are designed to assist underrepresented students with their college progress. The Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) is a New York State program of assistance for state residents who meet specific economic and educational criteria (www.stlawu.edu/heop/heop.htm). The state-funded Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) assists students from underrepresented groups interested in scientific, mathematical, health-related and technological career fields and the licensed professions (www.cstep/intro.htm).

St. Lawrence has a long tradition of enrolling a socio-economically diverse student body and annually provides more than $25 million in merit scholarships and need-based grants to more than 80% of the student body. Three years ago the Presidential Diversity Scholarship program was announced and implemented; through this program 40 students of color who are academic and co-curricular leaders have enrolled at St. Lawrence. In an effort to support increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of the student body, all admitted students of color with financial need receive very competitive aid awards(www.stlawu.edu/admis/finaid.html).

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