There's Nothing Wrong With Affinity Housing

BEFORE OUR Misguided alter ego works itself into a lather, we should get a few things straight.

First, the College doesn't make minorities live in special housing.

Second, few minorities actually choose the option to live in such houses. Most of them live the fully diverse Dartmouth experience. Cutter Hall can house only 10.4 percent of campus African Americans at any one time; a whopping 2.5 percent' of Asian Americans could live in the eight- person-capacity Asian Studies Center even if Asian Americans were the only ones living there.

Which leads us to our third clarification: the College doesn't make such housing exclusive to the minorities. White people can (and frequently do) live in Cutter Hall, for instance. The only requirement for living in the Asian Studies Center is an interest in Asian Studies.

So why allow likeminded people to live together? For the same reasons that speakers of foreign languages, members of Hillel, Native Americans, and students desiring a substance-free environment can choose special-interest housing: to provide a place for students to be comfortable, to let their hair down, maybe even to learn from "each other. Isn't that why anyone chooses to live together? Isn't that why there are houses for preppies, athletes, conservatives, liberals, and outdoors types? Having a place to relax and be themselves allows these people to confirm and strengthen their ties to their various communities and thereby become more effective members of the College community. Affinity housing and diversity are not mutually exclusive. They're mutually supportive.