University of Notre Dame Top Questions

People often say Notre Dame has little diversity. I see diversity on campus in the many clubs that represent different ethnicities and religious beliefs. I see different types of students interacting. Statistics have shown that many Notre Dame students come from white, high-income families. I think the students try to accept those with different lifestyles and beliefs, but there are many people who voice their opinions negatively.

Student body is primarily heterosexual affluent whites, although generally welcoming of diversity (possibly save for homosexuality). People wear sweats to class. Students usually are groups of friends from the respective dorms. Students are politically active though not extremely well informed. Predominantly conservative.

Although it may not seem like it at first glance, Notre Dame really does have a very diverse student body, not only in race and outward appearance, but in beliefs and opinions and states of mind. The large variety of students that I have met while at Notre Dame is incredible and I wonder at how different each and every person is on campus. While it is true that there is a large variety of caucasian students at the university, it has never seemed overwhelming to me or as though it is unfair for other races of students. I do not know what the official breakdown of students is according to their race, but i have yet to meet someone who is not accepting of other people based on their beliefs or heritage or race or any other factor.

There's not a lot of diversity. Most kids are white, upper middle class, and Catholic. That's just the bottom line. There are VERY few LGBT kids and while this is our most diverse class, only 25{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} minorities. If you're not Catholic, don't worry about it too much. I'm not and I get alonge fine...I'm not even Christian and I still feel like I fit in and my friends don't judge me or anything. Most students either dress very well and conservative (think polos, sweaters, etc.) or sporty (sweatpants, North Face fleece, etc.) There are pretty much no hipsters here (thank God). Different types of students do intereact, but for the most part people tend to stick with their own kind, particularly in regards to race. The black kids hang out with the other black kids, the asians hang out with the other asians (and the Koreans hang out by themselves), the latinos with the other latinos, etc. Most students are from the Midwest, but you get students from (literally) across the globe. A lot of kids are from farther away places like Florida, the east coast, and California, but you do get a ton from Indiana, Illinois (suburbs of Chicago!), Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, etc. Financially, most kids are rich. They say they're not, but at home they drive a BMW and they wear JCrew everyday and have five North Face fleeces. They're rich. A lot of students are politically aware and a lot. For the most part kids are right and conservative, due to the Catholic aspect. Pro-choicers be ware!

There is not much diversity on campus (regarding race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.). Many students discriminate against people who live alternative lifestyles and some even condemn them as being immoral or abnormal. An extremely liberal student, a non-straight student, a student from a low socio-economic category, and a non-believer or non-Christian would feel out of place on campus. Interaction among different types of students is uncommon. Most Notre Dame students seem to come from the Midwest and California. The student body seems to be largely upper middle class. Most students are conservative when they enter Notre Dame but become increasingly liberal. There is a wide range of activism from the completely apathetic to always ready for a protest. I rarely hear students talk about their future salaries.

Racial Groups on Campus: Lots of them, awesome programming (Asian Allure, Wabruda, Blak Images, Voices of Faith, etc). Religious Groups: Very prevalent; Campus Ministry is huge, lots of service opportunities. LGBTQ: A couple of non-recognized groups; a major controversy here. Socio-Economic Groups: None. Other Groups: Students do everything here, we were leaders in high school and we're leaders here. Student Feels Out of Place: Studious introvert, LGBTQ (I know some who love it here, others who hate it), Ethnic minority looking for similar people, Non-athletic people. Students wear: Lots of sweatshirts and North Face during the winter, lots of shorts and sandals during the (brief) warmer months, sometimes people dress nicely. Different Types of Students: Interact all the time. You will always be able to find someone who thinks differently than you if you look for it. Four Tables of Students in the Dining Hall: 1) Men's dorm talking about football; 2) Football players eating like pigs with lots of people (girls & guys) hovering around and sneaking glances; 3) Large group of diverse friends (male & female, white & non-white); 4) Wannabe or former jocks eating alone and watching SportsCenter on the flat-screen TVs and scarfing their food.

People are very tolerant and accepting overall around ND, although there's still not as much racial and class diversity as there ought to be. Everyone can find their place in the ND family, even though reaching out to different kinds of people must be a conscious effort. ND students are from all over the US and abroad, and upper middle-class is (sadly) by far the most prevalent. Some students take time to dress nicely for class, but the majority of people are laid back or just totally apathetic.

I think Notre Dame is a fun, diverse campus and there are a lot of different groups doing a lot of different things and it is easy to become involved in any one of them at any given time. You can get involved in a bible study group or a bagpiping club and that makes it really cool because there are so many options to choose from and you can really try new things. There are also many different foreign students and different groups all over and all of these groups do interact in the dorms and in the classrooms and there doesn't seem to be any clear separation between people. Some students dress up for class, others wear sweats. There is a big mix and it is really just whatever you feel comfortable in. In the dining hall, a lot of times you will see a group of kids from Spanish speaking countries and a group of athletes and a group of girls and a group of boys, but that doesn't mean that you won't see tables where all of these groups or intermingled. Typically students here are somewhat wealthy, but that's not to say that only wealthy kids go here because there is a lot of financial aid and scholarships available that make it possible for anyone to go here. I think a majority of students are conservative, but there are still a large number of liberal students and other political beliefs and there doesn't seem to be much clash among these groups. Notre Dame is not a very political campus, but there are several clubs that work toward promoting awareness and different views. Students here know that their education will help them make a lot of money in the future, but the main emphasis isn't so much on money rather than family and friends and just doing something that makes you happy. At Notre Dame, you learn that there is more to life than just money.

If you're not Catholic, straight, and white, you're immediately subjected to a certain amount of discrimination. Politically, most students are either moderate or way right. There is a liberal base, but it's pretty small.

This school is very conservative and not very accepting of certain groups.