Lack of Diversity is Ramapo's Most Prominent Issue

for Ramapo Record

Ramapo College is making small strides toward increased diversity with an increased number of Hispanic students, but is still a majority white campus, a recent report shows.

Ramapo’s released 2019 enrollment report shows that the college’s student body is predominantly white, as Caucasian people make up 50.3 percent of the student body. In comparison, the student body is less than 5 percent African American, less than 8 percent Asian and 15.9 percent Latinx or Hispanic. 

While it is stated that 15.9 percent of the student body is Latinx or Hispanic, this percentage includes mixed races, such as people that are “Hispanic and black,” “Hispanic and white,” and more. Less than 10 percent of Ramapo’s student body is Hispanic only. 

An informal poll of Ramapo students what are the major problems on campus, “lack of diversity” and “racism” are always given as answers. Why is that?

Following this, Ramapo students were asked to guess the statistics from this year’s enrollment report, and the numbers they gave were slightly exaggerated compared to the evidence provided by Ramapo. 

COMPARING TO THE PAST

When comparing this enrollment report to one from five years ago, Ramapo’s demographics have changed for the better. In 2015, white people made up 64 percent of the student body. Since then, there has been a nearly 15 percent decrease in order to incorporate more majority groups.

In the 2015 enrollment report, it was disclosed that Ramapo’s student body was nearly 13 percent Latinx or Hispanic, 5 percent black, and 7 percent Asian.

Ramapo students are unaware of the low numbers of diversity for a college that is so close to New York City and two urban hubs in New Jersey, Passaic and Paterson. This comes at a time when the U.S 2020 Census count will kick off next month and Latinx people will be an important demographic.