College also ranked 11th on most LGBTQ-unfriendly, “not-so-nice dorms” lists
Nathanael Mooney, Campus Carrier staff writer
Emma Bellantoni, Campus Carrier staff writer
The Princeton Review, an education service that helps students prepare for college, has ranked Berry as one of the best 390 colleges in the country. The Review also included Berry on other rankings of colleges. Vice President of Enrollment Andrew Bressette commented on how these companies get their rankings.
“They all rely a little bit on data that’s published and accessible, where they can compare things, school versus school, and then many of them also rely on student surveys,” Bressette said. “The challenge with that is, in any given year, you never know how many people will actually fill out the survey.”
This means that the data can be inconsistent from year to year according to Bressette. Among hundreds of other colleges, Berry was ranked on this year’s Princeton Review and earned many rankings.
Lindsay Norman, associate dean of students, is pleased that Berry’s ranking can spread word about the college.
“If it gives people an opportunity to hear our name and see if we are a community they want to live in,” Norman said. “I think that’s wonderful.”
Berry placed 11th on the LGBTQ+ unfriendly schools list. According to the Princeton Review, this is decided by how strongly students agree or disagree with the statement: “Students treat all persons equally, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.” Berry’s high ranking on the list has left members of the community surprised.
“When I say I’m kind of shocked and disappointed at that particular ranking, I think with all of the work that we’ve been doing on the Good Neighbor culture and trying to be a very welcoming community,” Bressette said. “I recognize there’s still a lot of work to do, but I would hope that everyone who’s here on campus would feel more comfortable today than maybe several years ago before that was a big initiative for us.”
Junior Vivianne Rumble, a member of LISTEN, a club that provides a safe space on campus for members of the LGBTQIA+ community and allies, feels comfortable being open on campus despite the ranking.
“I think there’s a lot of allyship and for the most part,” Rumble said. “I’ve seen a lot of supportive people. I haven’t really heard that much homophobia, towards me specifically and the people around me, but I’m aware that there can be some on campus, but it’s never something I’ve actually encountered before.”
Senior Kim Sharpe, vice president of LISTEN, was surprised when she first heard Berry was high on the list and believes Berry is making progress on campus.
“It was surprising to me when I first heard it because obviously, I’m already involved in these kind of LGBTQ friendly activities on campus,” Sharpe said.
Senior Lila McConkey, president of LISTEN, was upset and sad when first hearing about Berry’s ranking on the LGBTQ-unfriendly list. McConkey said that she understands that students may not accept other students, but that is why LISTEN was created.
“I think they were all just allies who wanted to create a safe place in the community here,” McConkey said. “I feel like that’s really important, too, because it goes to show that not every straight person is going to be homophobic and that other people are willing to fight for the underdogs.”
Berry ranked 11th in schools with “not-so-nice” dorms.
“I think a concern may be that some people want to live in a single, and we believe that living in a double is a really important experience,” Norman said. “We have continued to be committed to that when we build and renovate because we think learning how to live with others is a part of the Berry
student experience.”
Sharpe agrees with the ranking.
“I would tend to agree with that ranking just because it took me until senior year to get actual upperclassmen housing that has my own kitchen and a bathroom that isn’t communal,” Sharpe said. “Even then, I’m still sharing a bathroom and a bedroom with several other people as a grown adult, and for the price of tuition, you think you’d have a little bit more of like a grown space, like your own bedroom at least.”
According to the Princeton Review, Berry is ranked 18th as a school that has the most religious students. Although Berry is not religiously affiliated, Bressette said religious life on campus is vibrant.
“I think [it is], because we’re in the South where religion is much more important culturally than maybe in other areas of the country, and a lot of the students who are coming to us do have some very strongly held religious beliefs, and we welcome that,” Bressette said. “We don’t shy away from that.”
Although there is a large population of religious students on campus, McConkey believes there is also a large number of students who are not.
“I feel like we do have a solid amount of religious students, but we also have a pretty large amount that aren’t religious,” McConkey said. “Like for me and the people I hang out with, I feel it’s pretty fifty-fifty on whether or not they’re religious.”