Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Adam Lewandowski, Kevin Wheelock, Muhammed Fazeel
EUI Research Study of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Rhetoric 105 Section C3
1
2
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
Abstract
We researched the topic of racial segregation in dorms at the University of Illinois. Our
observations told us that FAR/PAR is primarily occupied by minorities while the six pack is
occupied by whites. We heard the student’s perspectives on living in separate dorms than people
from other regions and the effects on their social life to see if their opinions match up with our
observations. We found out more about the process of how students have ended up in their
respective dorms, especially if they specifically chose where they wanted to live. Our primary
sources are the anonymous surveys of students. The secondary sources are the articles from
various databases including the ideals database. We assumed that most students came to the
university to study and grow as individuals, by promoting students interactions with each other;
the learning experience of college education preparing students for the real world can improve
exponentially.
3
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
Introduction
From observation, we began this study with the assumption that there is segregation in
the dormitories at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign(UIUC). This assumption is
made based on our personal observations and also based on secondary resources that concern
UIUC specifically and are from the IDEALS database. Our observations and the secondary
sources told us that FAR/PAR is primarily occupied by minorities while the six pack is occupied
by whites. Our interests in pursuing this research are to find out why there is this segregation in
these dorms. We believe once we find these answers us and the University could use them to
make the dorms more diverse like the real world will be after college. We specifically want to
find out if students choose to live where they do and if similar race surroundings truly have an
effect on their decision.
We decided to use surveys on Facebook to conduct our research because we believed it
would be the easiest method to reach out to students who live in all the different dormitories on
campus. This survey is important to the University of Illinois because the question of why there
is racial segregation in the dorms has never been answered. The information received from these
surveys is also important because when we find out why students decide to live where they do,
the University might be able to use the findings to start diversifying the dorms. We believe that
living in a diverse setting is crucial for college students because once they are done with college
they will be released into the real world which is full of racial diversity. They will have to be
able to function is a diverse setting in order to be successful.
The plan to use Facebook as our researching tool was our decision from the start. From
the beginning we felt that Facebook was the most efficient way for us to conduct the research we
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
4
needed to. The only change that we were considering was that if we didn’t get enough answers
to the survey from certain parts of the dormitories, specifically FAR/PAR, then we would have
to base our conclusion on only a certain amount of the dorms.
5
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
Discussion
As explained in the plan we were able to make the assumption that the dormitories at
UIUC are segregated based on our personal observations as well as the use of our secondary
sources. Muhammed is a junior and has attended at the University of Illinois part of his college
career. He partook in many experiences with the cultural diversity at UIUC. Muhammed, along
with the rest of us, observed the same segregation patterns that have become associated with
UIUC. These are that FAR/PAR is primarily occupied by minorities while the Ikenberry
Commons(six pack) is occupied by whites.
These pre-research observations by us were also backed by our secondary sources. For
example, in the research project, “Cultural Planning of Dorms written by Herrera-Urizar and
Myers ,” they conducted a survey of 40 students. 20 of these students came from the FAR/PAR
dorms and 20 came from the six pack. Their conclusion based on the interviews was,
“Throughout the interviews, the majority of students supported the idea that FAR/PAR has a
higher concentration of minorities and that the Six-Pack is predominantly white” (5). The
interviews conducted by Herrera-Urizar and Myers support our observations true on the lack of
diversity in the dorms. Another secondary source that backs our observations was the
"Multicultural Community vs White Community" research project written by Reynolds. In this
research interviews were given to many different races of people that live at FAR/PAR. They
were asked if they would stay at the dorm the following year and two of the white people that
were given they survey said no because, “the dorms need to be more diverse because the real
world is” (12). The data found by Reynolds backs our observations that people of white descent
struggle living at FAR/PAR because it is populated by mostly people of Asian descent.
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
6
Our plan of attack on the strategy to conduct this research has stayed the same from the
beginning because of multiple reasons. One is that we believed Facebook provided us with the
easiest way to reach out to the greatest amount of University of Illinois students that we could.
On Facebook there is a group of students that go to the University of Illinois, so all we had to do
was invite these people to take our survey. Another reason why we decided to use Facebook was
that we thought it would provide us with the greatest amount of response. Another option would
have been to pass out surveys in all the dorms, but we believed that many students would not
complete these surveys due to laziness and we would not be able to collect enough data. We
thought Facebook would make us more successful in consuming responses because the majority
of the students at UIUC have a Facebook and it would only take them a couple of minutes to
complete the survey online. Most people go on Facebook when they are bored, so a survey
would be a perfect time filling thing for them.
Also, we specifically wanted freshman to complete the survey since they were the group
of students most likely to be swayed by university recommendations. By using Facebook we
could limit our survey takers to freshman instead of a random sampling.
7
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
Conclusion
As the results in our survey show, the majority of the survey takers (65%) chose their
dorm because of location and friends. Over 60% of the respondents chose their dorm because
they thought it would influence their social choices. We specifically wanted freshman to answer
our survey, we did this because freshman are the only group that is influenced by university
literature/recommendations while choosing their dorms. 96% of the survey takers were
freshman. Our data was skewed as over 80% of the people who took the survey were white with
a smaller portion of the other races represented. 60% of the survey takers were male and 40%
were female, this split is similar to the university gender distribution.
Over 30 different majors and nine different colleges are represented in the survey. We
tried to find a correlation between majors and dorms but could not come to a logical solution
since the data did not follow a discernible pattern. Unfortunately, 69% of the survey takers were
from Ikenberry, because of this bias some of the data collected cannot be used to reach a
reasonable conclusion. The floors in the dorms tended to follow a trend, a few students on each
floor shared the same major. Due to the abnormal distribution of survey takers, we cannot come
to a conclusion if the trend is the same in other dorms as well. Surprisingly, the participants of
the survey had friends of a different race that live in the same dorm. We did not expect this as
our initial observation was that the dorms were completely segregated. However, over 95% of
the participants agreed that the classrooms had greater diversity than dorms. The contradiction in
data can be easily explained, there are a few minority students in the dorms and they account for
the survey takers having friends of a different race, in classes however there is a greater
distribution of race.
8
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
We did have a grammatical mistake in one of the questions on the survey. The mistake
was corrected and the answers after the correction were counted. This accounts for the lower
number of responses in the graph that illustrates the responses on the diversity in classrooms Vs
dorms.
Results
55 Responses for Rhet 105 survey
Gender
Male
33
60%
Female
22
40%
Figure 1: Gender breakdown of the survey responses
Race
Asian
4
7%
Black
3
5%
Hispanic
3
5%
44
80%
Native American
0
0%
Other
1
2%
White
9
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
Figure 2: Race breakdown of the survey responses.
*the other is also asian.
What is your major?
There is over 30 different majors, the data does not seem to validate anything. I have enclosed
the data anyway. No point in a graph though.
Majors
Electrical Engineering
Chemistry
Math
Sports Management
Acturial Science
Chemical Engineering
General Engineering
History
Kinesiology
English
Political Science
Urban Planning
Mechanical Engineering
DGS
NRES
Business
Technical System Management
French
Social Work
Engineering Physics
Psychology
#
3
2
3
1
1
1
1
2
3
2
3
2
2
7
1
1
1
2
1
1
2
10
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
Materials science
Industrial Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Geology
Animal Science
Accounting
business
Biology
Aviation
Finance
Computer Engineer
*Some people are double majors
MCB counted as bio, undeclared counted
DGS
What college is your major part of ?
College
Engineering
13
LAS
21
Applied Health
4
Science
Fine and Applied arts
2
Division of general
5
studies
ACES
3
College of business
4
Institute of Aviation
1
Social Work
1
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
4
1
1
1
11
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
College of Social Work, 1
business, 4
Institute of
Aviation, 1
ACES, 3
Division of
general studies,
5
Fine and
Applied arts,
2
Applied Health
Science, 4
Engineering, 13
LAS, 21
Figure 3: College major breakdown of the survey responses.
12
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
Year in school
Freshman
53
96%
Sophomore
1
2%
Junior
1
2%
Senior
0
0%
Figure 4: Year in university breakdown of the survey responses.
Which dorm do you live in?
PAR/FAR
4
7%
Ikenberry
38
69%
ISR
3
5%
LAR (Lincoln Avenue Residence Halls)
0
0%
10
18%
Other
Figure 5: Dorm breakdown of the survey responses.
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Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
Why did you choose your dorm ?
Friends
15
27%
Location
21
38%
University recommendation
4
7%
Facilities
1
2%
14
25%
Other
Figure 6: Reasons for choosing the dorm.
Do you have friends of a different race that live in the same dorm?
Yes
50
91%
No
5
9%
Figure 7: Survey takers who have friends from a different race in the same dorm.
14
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
Do you think your dorm influences your social choices?
Yes
60%
33
No
40%
22
Figure 8: Influence of dorm to social choices.
Do you think there is more racial diversity in the classroom or dorms?
classroom
9
16%
dorm
5
9%
*survey had a grammar error, ended up with people giving yes/no to this answer, ignoring that
data gives the graph shown.
Figure 9: Racial diversity breakdown of classrooms and dorms.
If you chose your dorm, are you happy with your decision?
Yes
87%
48
No
7
13%
15
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
Figure 10: Survey takers happy and unhappy with their dorm selection.
Do people on your floor have the same major?
Most
1
2%
Some
9
16%
A few
24
44%
None
14
25%
7
13%
I don't know
Figure 11: Do other floor mates in the dorm have similar majors?
If not, what college(s) are the majority of your floormates in?
See appendix.
Are your floor mates from the same college?
Yes
20
36%
No
20
36%
I don't know
15
27%
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
Figure 12: Floormates from same college.
16
17
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
Possible Solutions
The segregation of races occurs due to students selecting dorms based on their
implication on their social lives. This leads to an obvious separation of students. Based on our
findings, we would recommend University of Illinois to incorporate a lottery system wherein
students are randomly placed together in their dorms. This lottery system is already being used at
other universities and would promote greater diversity in each dorm.
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
18
Recommendations for Further Research
After analyzing and making conclusions on our data, we have come up with three
recommendations for further research that would help solidify our study even more. The first
further research we suggest would be to do a survey on the dorms other than the Ikenberry to get
more detailed data. In our study we were only able to make solid conclusions on the Ikenberry
dormitories, so doing more research on other dormitories would allow someone to expand our
findings about UIUC dormitories. The second further research we would recommend would
before to look into the individual race of each respondent to see if they correlate with a specific
major and whether the student’s major influences a student’s choice in picking a dorm.
Lastly, the third further research that we would advise includes finding out the capabilities of the
dormitories at the University of Illinois to make changes and adapt to the students wants. We
believe that if all dorms can offer the same things then students would be content with living at
any of the dorms and the University would then be able to diversify the dormitories more. There
are no other questions that we wish we would have included in our survey.
19
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
Appendix
#
Male
White
Electrical Engineer
What
college is
your major
part of ?
Engineering
college
Male
Male
White
White
Chemistry
math
LAS
LAS
Male
Male
White
White
sports management
Actuarial Science
ahs
L.A.S.
Gender
1
2
3
4
5
Race
What is your
major?
6
9
12
Location
Location
Yes
No
Freshman
Freshman
bromley
Ikenberry
Yes
Yes
Freshman
Ikenberry
Friends
Location
i was told that
the six pack is
the best place to
live
Freshman
Ikenberry
Yes
Freshman
Freshman
Ikenberry
Ikenberry
Friends
University
recommendation
Friends
Junior
Newman
Hall
Facilities
No
Male
White
Chemical
Engineering
Male
Female
Asian
White
GE
History
Male
White
Kinesiology
Engineering
LAS
Applied
Health
Science
Male
Male
White
White
English/Poli Sci
urban planning
LAS
FAA
Freshman
Freshman
Ikenberry
Ikenberry
Reputation
Location
Yes
Yes
Female
White
fine and
applied arts
Freshman
PAR/FAR
University
recommendation
Yes
Male
White
urban planning
mechanical
engineering
engineering
Freshman
Brom
Friends
Yes
Freshman
Freshman
Freshman
Ikenberry
Ikenberry
Ikenberry
Friends
Location
Location
Yes
Yes
No
15
16
17
No
math
13
14
Friends
Freshman
Freshman
Ikenberry
Bromley
Hall
Ikenberry
White
10
11
Freshman
Why did you
choose your
dorm ?
Male
7
8
liberal arts
and
sciences
Liberal Arts
and
Sciences
Year in
school
Which
dorm do
you live
in?
Do you
have
friends
of a
differen
t race
that
live in
the
same
dorm?
Female
Male
Male
White
White
White
undecided
NRES
Business
division of
general
studies
ACES
Yes
Yes
Yes
20
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
18
19
Male
White
Technical Systems
Management
ACES
Sophomore
Ikenberry
Female
White
French
LAS
Freshman
Ikenberry
Friends
I heard it was
social
Male
Female
Black
White
Kinesiology
Social Work
Freshman
Freshman
Ikenberry
Ikenberry
My brother said
so.
Location
Yes
Yes
Female
White
Kinesiology
AHS
Social Work
Applied
Health
Sciences
Freshman
Ikenberry
Friends
Yes
Male
White
Engineering Physics
Freshman
Ikenberry
Location
Yes
Male
Female
White
White
Mathematics/Political
Science
psych
engineering
Liberal Arts
and
Sciences
las
Freshman
Freshman
Weston
Ikenberry
Location
Friends
Yes
Yes
Yes
20
21
22
23
24
25
28
29
Male
White
Materials Science
Engineering
Freshman
Ikenberry
Male
White
Ikenberry
Location
Yes
Hispanic
White
LAS
Engineering
College
Engineering
Freshman
Male
Male
undecided
Industrial
Engineering
Aerospace
Freshman
Freshman
Ikenberry
Ikenberry
Location
Location
Yes
Yes
Male
White
Speacialized
curriculum in
geology and
geophysics with a
concentration in
environmental
geology
Freshman
Ikenberry
Location
Yes
Female
White
English
Freshman
Ikenberry
Friends
Yes
Male
Female
Female
White
White
White
Electrical Engineer
Animal Science
undeclared
LAS
Liberal Arts
and
Sciences
Engineering
college
ACES
DGS
Freshman
Freshman
Freshman
Ikenberry
Ikenberry
Ikenberry
Friends
Location
Friends
Yes
Yes
Yes
Female
White
Psychology and
French Double Major
LAS
Freshman
Ikenberry
Yes
Female
White
Accounting
Freshman
Ikenberry
Female
White
Political Science
Business
Liberal Arts
and
Sciences
Friends
University
recommendation
Freshman
Ikenberry
Location
Yes
Male
White
History
LAS
Freshman
Ikenberry
Location
Yes
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
Yes
Heard six pack
area was most
social
26
27
Yes
Yes
21
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
39
40
41
42
43
44
College of
Business
Freshman
LAS
Freshman
Engineering
Freshman
ISR
Asian
Chemistry
Aerospace
Engineering
Electrical
Engineering
BuseyEvans
sorority
house
Engineering
Freshman
Female
Hispanic
Biology
LAS
Freshman
ISR
Busey
Evans
Female
Hispanic
DGS
DGS
Freshman
PAR/FAR
Female
Black
LAS
Freshman
PAR/FAR
Male
White
biology
Mechanical
Engineering
Engineering
Freshman
Male
Black
Male
White
Biology
Aviation Human
Factors
LAS
Institute of
Aviation
Female
White
Business
Female
White
Male
Indian
Female
I didn't
Yes
Friends
University
recommendation
Yes
Location
Yes
Yes
Freshman
Ikenberry
Weston
[six pack]
Location
it wasn't my first
choice
I just chose
random places
and this is
where they put
me
Substance Free
living
Random choice.
I had no idea
Freshman
PAR/FAR
Random
No
Yes
Yes
45
46
47
48
50
51
White
Asian
Male
Asian
MCB
Finance
Computer
Engineering
Female
54
Male
Male
Female
Engineering
Freshman
ISR
Location
Yes
Freshman
Ikenberry
My older sister
told me to
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
White
White
Materials Science
and Engineering
undeclared
Engineering
college
dgs
Freshman
Freshman
Ikenberry
Ikenberry
I heard the six
pack was a
good place to be
Location
Undecided
Division of
General
Studies
Freshman
Ikenberry
Location
White
Yes
Allen Hall
Ikenberry
Undeclared
55
Yes
Freshman
Freshman
White
53
Yes
LAS
Busiess
Division of
General
studies
52
Yes
location and live
and learning
community
Friends
49
Female
Male
Yes
22
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
#
1
2
3
4
5
Do you
think your
dorm
influences
your
social
choices?
Do you
think
there is
more
racial
diversity
in the
classroom
or dorms?
If you
chose
your
dorm, are
you
happy
with your
decision?
Do
people
on
your
floor
have
the
same
major?
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
A few
A few
None
No
Yes
Yes
A few
Yes
Yes
Yes
I don't
know
No
Yes
Yes
A few
No
None
Specifically
Yes
Yes
No
A few
Yes
business
No
Yes
No
A few
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Some
None
I don't
know
I don't
know
None
Yes
Yes
I don't
know
I don't
know
No
Are
your
floor
mates
from the
same
college?
If not, what
college(s)
are the
majority of
your
floormates
in?
Business
Majors
engineering
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
LAS, FAA
Business,
engineering
engineering
education,
chemistry,
sociology
No
Yes
Yes
None
No
No
Yes
No
A few
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
None
None
A few
No
No
Yes
LAS
LAS
Yes
Yes
Yes
None
No
Engineering
15
16
17
18
23
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
19
Yes
Yes
No
A few
I don't
know
LAS/DGS
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
None
A few
No
No
Engineers
and
Business
Business
Yes
Yes
Yes
Some
No
Engineering
Yes
Yes
Yes
None
No
undecided
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
A few
A few
No
Yes
Engineering
No
Yes
Yes
None
No real
majority
Yes
Yes
Yes
Some
I don't
know
I don't
know
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Most
A few
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
None
Yes
LAS
Yes
No
Yes
A few
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
A few
I don't
know
LAS
Business
Majors
No
No
Yes
Some
Yes
I don't
know
business
Yes
No
Yes
A few
I don't
know
LAS
No
Yes
Yes
A few
No
DGS
Yes
Yes
Yes
Some
No
No
Yes
Yes
None
No
Engineering
No
No
No
None
No
LAS
Yes
Yes
Yes
A few
No
Business
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
24
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
41
42
43
44
Yes
Yes
No
A few
Yes
No
dorm
Yes
No
dorm
Yes
A few
I don't
know
Yes
classroom
Yes
A few
Yes
I don't
know
I don't
know
No
classroom
Yes
A few
I don't
know
Yes
classroom
Yes
Yes
Engineering
Yes
classroom
Yes
A few
I don't
know
No
IDK
Yes
dorm
No
None
No
Dont Know
Yes
No
dorm
classroom
Yes
Yes
Yes
classroom
Yes
Some
Some
I don't
know
No
Yes
I don't
know
No
classroom
Yes
I don't
know
I don't
know
Yes
No
classroom
dorm
Yes
Yes
Some
A few
I don't
know
No
Yes
classroom
Yes
Some
I don't
know
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
25
Racial Segregation of the Dormitories
References
Hart, Quianna. “Diversity at Home: the Question of Racialized Lived Spaces on the University
of Illinois Campus.” Ideals. 2008.
Myers, Joshua; Herrera-Urizar, Juan Pablo. “Cultural mapping of dorms.” Ideals. 2006.
Reynolds, Felicia. “Multicultural Community vs White Community.” Ideals. 2008.