As the housing draw approaches, Stanford students are deciding where they want to live next year, and the options are plentiful. Students can live in seventy-eight different on-campus houses, seventy of which are university assigned; the other eight are residential fraternities and sororities. Of these houses, many are generic dormitory halls, but there are also dorms that have a particular focus. Students can get priority for living in focus dorms if they either belong to the particular group in which the dorm specializes or if they can demonstrate their interest. For example, Storey is Stanford’s Human Biology focus dorm, and students can get priority to live there if their major is HumBio. Kimball is the art focus theme dorm, and students can gain priority by filling out an application demonstrating their interest in art. Most focus dorms are based on an issue of interest to students, such as languages, sciences, or arts; however, there are some dorms whose focus is based on race. These residences are the ethnic theme houses. Stanford is home to four ethnic theme dorms: Ujamaa, the African-American theme house located in Lagunita Court; Okada, the Asian-American theme house located in Wilbur Hall, Casa Zapata, the His- panic theme house located in Stern Hall, and Muwekma-Tah-Ruk, the Native-American theme house located on the Row.

One of Stanford’s greatest qualities touted by the administration is Stanford’s diversity. Ethnic theme dorms are a testament to Stanford’s commitment to diversity. According to the Program Statement for Cross-Cultural theme houses, “Ethnic theme houses at Stanford University originated in the late 1960’s as the university was increasing its commitment to support students of color, whose enrollment [at Stanford] was growing for the first time in Stanford’s history.” They were created in order to satisfy “students’ expressed needs particularly in freshman year as they made their transition into university life.” The rationale is that students of an ethnicity who were brought up in a strong community might feel isolated at a place like Stanford, where students of similar color might be more dispersed than in their home environment, which “may lead to a sense of isolation.” By having a residential community, students of color would have a place where they can “live in a supportive, comforting setting” around others of a similar background to themselves.

Many critics, however, believe that the dorms encourage the formation of what the program statement calls “separatist enclaves.” They argue that, since many minorities live in ethnic theme dorms, there are simply fewer minorities to contribute to cross-cultural exchange on the rest of campus, especially in non-ethnic theme dorms. The program statement dismisses such claims by arguing that the ethnic theme dorms are not primarily meant to benefit the whole student body but to facilitate “building bonds and supporting members of the group who are the focus of the theme.”

Junior Aron Hegyi lived in Okada his freshman year and felt that he did not gain much out of living in an ethnic theme dorm. Aron says that “Stanford is a bubble from the outside world, and Okada is a bubble from Stanford.” As a result, he felt the need to socialize with people outside of his dorm. While he does feel that one of the purposes of these dorms is to celebrate diversity and “promote awareness” of the culture, he feels that ethnic theme dorms “promote culture in the dorm, [but] on the campus, not so much.” On the issue of self-segregation, Aron recalls that “the first half of the year, the freshman were like one big happy family, but the second half, the Asian community started to take over and they had their own thing. So us white kids were [left out], and there were few of us.”

For those who live outside of ethnic theme dorms, opinions are mixed. There are those who align themselves with the program statement, and others who do not. Junior Joe Bonneau feels that purpose of ethnic dorms is to “give [ethnic] groups the chance to cluster,” and that for people not of that ethnicity, it’s a great way to “be exposed to a new culture.” He also believes that their purpose is to promote diversity, but that they don’t accomplish this goal well. Joe says that they “push segregation” because they “take minorities and put them in one dorm…and reduce diversity everywhere else.” Freshman Charley Meng agrees, stating that in his all-frosh dorm of Donner there are few minority students.

Several students who have lived in ethnic theme dorms, however, describe their overall experience in an ethnic us white kids were [left out], and there were few of us.” For those who live outside of ethnic theme dorms, opinions are mixed. There are those who align themselves with the program statement, and others who do not. Junior Joe Bonneau feels that purpose of ethnic dorms is to “give [ethnic] groups the chance to cluster,” and that for people not of that ethnicity, it’s a great way to “be exposed to a new culture.” He also believes that their purpose is to promote diversity, but that they don’t accomplish this goal well. Joe says that they “push seg- regation” because they “take minorities and put them in one dorm…and reduce diversity everywhere else.” Freshman Charley Meng agrees, stating that in his all-frosh dorm of Donner there are few minority students. Several students who have lived in ethnic theme dorms, however, describe their overall experience in an ethnic theme house as positive. Freshman Sudar Purushothaman, a current fresh­man living in Ujamaa, says that “liv­ing in Ujamaa has been a valuable and enjoyable experience for me.” Also, being a resident in Ujamaa, he gets to be immersed “in a culture that I have not had as much exposure to in the past and might not have had in the future. It is especially effective in pro­moting open-mindedness and under­standing of other cultures.” On the issue of self-segregation, he says that “I don’t think the purpose of theme dorms is to encourage segregation; rather, it is meant to allow students to get an understanding of various cul­tures. In order to truly do so, it is not enough to simply have discussions or lectures; to live with people who cel­ebrate different cultures allows people to be open minded about other people and their backgrounds and promotes tolerance, not segregation.” Fresh­man Emi Manuia, a freshman living in Muwekma-Tah-Ruk, also feels that ethnic theme dorms are “supposed to help inform people [about native culture] that are either interested or are that ethnicity to share the wealth of knowledge…in that respect, the purpose is fulfilled.” She agrees with Sudar on the issue of segregation, saying that ethnic communities are “non-exclusive,” and that the native community is very accepting to those who live in Muwekma. She also feels that “it’s definitely nice to live in Muwekma because then you get to be a lot closer to people in the native community.”

Of the students contacted for this investigation, few disagreed about the official purpose of the ethnic theme dorms; most students felt that the reason Stanford is home to these houses is to increase the awareness of diversity and ethnic cultures. The disparity in opinion stems from how people define self-segregation. Most recognize that ethnic theme dorms concentrate people of a specific ethnic­ity in a particular place. Some view this as promoting community and diversity, while others see this as self-segregation. This debate will likely continue since Director of Residential Education Jane Camarillo says that the administration has “no plan to phase out ethnic theme houses.” One thing is clear – the presence of ethnic theme dorms has raised awareness about the differences of opinions about the role of race on campus as much as raised awareness about race itself.