Relationships among Structural Diversity, Informal Peer Interactions and Perceptions of the Campus Environment

Almost half of the U.S. population will be racial/ethnic minorities by the year 2030 (Cortes, 1991). Colleges and universities are also becoming increasingly diverse and students of color are expected to comprise nearly two fifths of total undergraduate enrollment by 2015 (Carnevale & Fry, 2000). In several states, minority students already make up at least one third of the student body. For example, fall 2002 minority enrollments in the four most populous states—California, Texas, Florida, and New York—were 51%, 41%, 37%, and 32%, respectively (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2005). Faced with this dramatic demographic shift, leaders in the public and private sectors have called on colleges and universities to prepare students to function effectively in a diverse society (Association of American Colleges and Universities, 1995; Bikson & Law, 1994). Similar calls have come from within the academy by leaders such as Bowen and Bok (1998) and