Validity of Princeton Review Findings Questioned
In the Princeton Review—The Best 351 Colleges,
2004 edition, Trinity College was ranked as number one of the
20 schools rated in the category “Little Race/Class Interaction” with
regard to the question, Do different types of students
(black/white, rich/poor) interact frequently and easily? In
addition, Trinity was rated number one of 20 in the category
“Town-Gown Relations are Strained” in response to:
Do students get along well with members of the local
community?
The College questions the validity of the PR
rankings, given PR’s use of a qualitative and subjective survey to
draw quantitative conclusions and because the conclusions run counter
to findings of scientifically drawn surveys conducted through the
Office of Institutional Research.
While for the need for improvement is inarguable, the
“worst” ranking in both categories is clearly invalid. The Enrolled
Student Survey for 2003 [Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE)]
shows that Trinity ranks in the middle of its peer liberal arts
colleges in regard to the amount of diversity and is comparable with
respect to relationships among racial and ethnic groups and
satisfaction with their experience at Trinity.
Resolution of issues related to race and minority
engagement and facilitation of interaction within the College
community are a high priority for the College. An example of an event
proactively planned to grapple with issues ranging from differences in
race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or physical
ability was the recent Dialogue Day, the first event in a two-year
“Pride and Prejudice” campus-wide initiative.
The Princeton Review conclusion that College
relationships with the local community are strained (that students do
not “get along well with members of the local community”) is of
particular concern, given Trinity’s extensive—and nationally
recognized—efforts to interact with the city of Hartford.
Trinity’s special
relationship with its neighboring community is attested to in the
recent W.K. Kellogg Foundation award of a $1.6 million bridge grant to
continue the College’s leadership role in neighborhood renewal in
Hartford.
Nearly 40 campus- and community-based activities
provide students with specific opportunities to play an active part in
improving life in Hartford and beyond. Through the Community Learning
Initiative (CLI), between 600 and 800 students take part each year in
urban-oriented courses across virtually all of the College’s academic
disciplines.
In fact, Trinity student organizations and individual
students have been recognized by the state of Connecticut for work
done in partnership with the community. One student-led service
project, the Adolescent Mentoring Project, secured grants from the
Lumina Foundations and Sovereign Bank for its efforts.
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