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It's not that surprising. Howard University is 95% black (source: <a href="http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1024">htt

It's not that surprising. Howard University is 95% black (source: <a href="http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1024">http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1024</a> http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl...) and is one of the lowest ranked colleges in terms of diversity. Coming from such a culturally closed-off environment to a different one comprised mostly of whites and Asians of different ethnicities and nationalities would definitely result in culture shock.

scarmig 11y ago
It'd be an irony if part of the reason students at HBCUs don't "mesh" with Silicon Valley is that they're not comfortable with diverse environments. Looking at a list of the "whitest" universities, their graduates seem similarly unrepresented in the places I've worked. A flawed but interesting test: do black CS graduates from Stanford and MIT fit better into SV than black CS graduates from Howard?
- pc86 11y ago
  I don't know how you'd measure fit (tenure at first job? % that change jobs to another SV company?), but it should be pretty easy to get hiring numbers. Stanford might not be a good test simply because of proximity, but MIT certainly would be a contender.
- dlreeves 11y ago
  As a black alum from MIT and feel I can speak to this anecdotally. Here are some distinction to keep in mind. 1) From the moment I stepped onto MIT's campus I was actively recruited by Silicon Valley companies. My freshman year was tough getting much attention, but recruiters would talk to me and generally gave off the vibe that I was wanted. Contrast this with going to a HBCU where these companies are not present on campus, or if they do show up its only for a day or two for a career fair. You wouldn't feel as welcome coming there. 2) I had black friends who were upperclassman who had "made it" in SV. They could offer advice and guidance. When I moved out to SV I also had them as part of social circle so I had social ties outside of work. Coming from a HBCU its likely you do not know anyone who works at these companies. You also do not know anyone who lives in the area to socialize this. If you do not relate to the people from work then you have trouble making friends.
- Grishnakh 11y ago
  >It'd be an irony if part of the reason students at HBCUs don't "mesh" with Silicon Valley is that they're not comfortable with diverse environments. This wouldn't surprise me. I graduated college 18 years ago, and even back then there was a huge amount of diversity in my graduating class. I had friends from India, Taiwan, Indonesia, Turkey, Ghana, etc. However, there were very, very few African-Americans (the guy from Ghana doesn't count). Nor were there any Hispanics that I recall. So someone from my university would have fit in pretty well in SV in a diverse work team (and they did, lots of my classmates went there). So I think your test isn't flawed at all, but a very worthwhile question.
codyb 11y ago
I'm not sure why anyone would consider that to be a positive, such a closed environment in terms of demographics. Living with people of all races, genders, backgrounds, and sexualities helped me become the man I am today (I've lived with whites, blacks, asians, latinos, men, women, hetero and homosexual people, Americans, and French citizens). Currently I spend a lot of time with my neighbors in Brooklyn. I'm probably one of the only people in the neighborhood who could be considered both a part of the local community (I know nearly every regular face on my side of the street) and a part of gentrification (I'm a white man who makes good money and is a part of the forces driving rent prices up). Things get hairy sometimes. I'm offered a lot of things I don't particularly want, and had a few people conspire to potentially remove a few select items from my house. So I started going out in the city more, and now everything's back to the nice vibe it once was. I'm just as comfortable as I was before and that process of potential betrayal and silent forgiveness (I'm not sure my friend even knows I knew he was planning to pull the jux (as my friends from my hometown might say)) is just a part of who I am. Facing adversities, interacting with new cultures, experiencing new experiences. That's what makes you a rich human being. Not staying cooped up in your own home, where you bring your friends in from other neighborhoods, like the vast majority of young people here do. I'm convinced, while it may make the neighborhood a bit safer, it destroys the vibrancy of the same simultaneously. And besides, can you really tell me who wouldn't want to be OG Cody Loco? At least for a little bit? ;-)
- pabb 11y ago
  As a white guy who also grew up in a predominantly black area with black friends and makes good money, your attempt to appear as the paragon of racial enlightenment makes me cringe.
  - oldmanjay 11y ago
    Do you feel as though your experiences made you better than the OP and so you cringe because of your superior enlightenment? I can't imagine what else you might have in mind, I find nothing particularly cringeworthy in the OP, especially since the whole "paragon of racial enlightenment" bit seems to come entirely from your own head.
KingMob 11y ago
You're mistaken if you assume that going to Howard means they somehow have less experience with diversity than being in Silicon Valley. Black people, just by virtue of being a minority in America, are exposed to white people and culture at way higher rates than the reverse. In fact, a major point of going to a historically black college is to get a bit of a "break" from the dominant culture.
- yummyfajitas 11y ago
  Why does one need a "break" from a culture? I'm in India right now, live here 1/3 of the year, and have lived here extensively in the past. I don't need a "break". I don't need some "critical mass" of firangi around me. As a person who is willing to adapt to the world around me, that's all just a bunch of silliness. From what you say, it sounds as if many Howard students are less willing to adapt. That's fine. But it's pretty clear that for folks who are willing to adapt themselves (e.g., Chinese, Indian and other immigrants to the valley), the valley is quite welcoming.
  - redwolfb14 11y ago
    I hear this sort of thing often enough that I need to reply. In general Asians claim that race or discrimination isn't the issue. That most of the issue falls to education and work ethic unfortunately i've come across quite a few very racist Indians and Asian people to be sure. In-fact not only do they tend to be very racist and large in parcel hold onto stereotypical tropes but they are also very classist. I say this as a black carribean man married to a chinese woman. It's truly a shame as some of the behavior I've seen meted out shouldn't be coming from these groups.

scarmig 11y ago

It'd be an irony if part of the reason students at HBCUs don't "mesh" with Silicon Valley is that they're not comfortable with diverse environments. Looking at a list of the "whitest" universities, their graduates seem similarly unrepresented in the places I've worked. A flawed but interesting test: do black CS graduates from Stanford and MIT fit better into SV than black CS graduates from Howard?

pc86 11y ago
I don't know how you'd measure fit (tenure at first job? % that change jobs to another SV company?), but it should be pretty easy to get hiring numbers. Stanford might not be a good test simply because of proximity, but MIT certainly would be a contender.
dlreeves 11y ago
As a black alum from MIT and feel I can speak to this anecdotally. Here are some distinction to keep in mind. 1) From the moment I stepped onto MIT's campus I was actively recruited by Silicon Valley companies. My freshman year was tough getting much attention, but recruiters would talk to me and generally gave off the vibe that I was wanted. Contrast this with going to a HBCU where these companies are not present on campus, or if they do show up its only for a day or two for a career fair. You wouldn't feel as welcome coming there. 2) I had black friends who were upperclassman who had "made it" in SV. They could offer advice and guidance. When I moved out to SV I also had them as part of social circle so I had social ties outside of work. Coming from a HBCU its likely you do not know anyone who works at these companies. You also do not know anyone who lives in the area to socialize this. If you do not relate to the people from work then you have trouble making friends.
Grishnakh 11y ago
>It'd be an irony if part of the reason students at HBCUs don't "mesh" with Silicon Valley is that they're not comfortable with diverse environments. This wouldn't surprise me. I graduated college 18 years ago, and even back then there was a huge amount of diversity in my graduating class. I had friends from India, Taiwan, Indonesia, Turkey, Ghana, etc. However, there were very, very few African-Americans (the guy from Ghana doesn't count). Nor were there any Hispanics that I recall. So someone from my university would have fit in pretty well in SV in a diverse work team (and they did, lots of my classmates went there). So I think your test isn't flawed at all, but a very worthwhile question.

codyb 11y ago

I'm not sure why anyone would consider that to be a positive, such a closed environment in terms of demographics. Living with people of all races, genders, backgrounds, and sexualities helped me become the man I am today (I've lived with whites, blacks, asians, latinos, men, women, hetero and homosexual people, Americans, and French citizens). Currently I spend a lot of time with my neighbors in Brooklyn. I'm probably one of the only people in the neighborhood who could be considered both a part of the local community (I know nearly every regular face on my side of the street) and a part of gentrification (I'm a white man who makes good money and is a part of the forces driving rent prices up). Things get hairy sometimes. I'm offered a lot of things I don't particularly want, and had a few people conspire to potentially remove a few select items from my house. So I started going out in the city more, and now everything's back to the nice vibe it once was. I'm just as comfortable as I was before and that process of potential betrayal and silent forgiveness (I'm not sure my friend even knows I knew he was planning to pull the jux (as my friends from my hometown might say)) is just a part of who I am. Facing adversities, interacting with new cultures, experiencing new experiences. That's what makes you a rich human being. Not staying cooped up in your own home, where you bring your friends in from other neighborhoods, like the vast majority of young people here do. I'm convinced, while it may make the neighborhood a bit safer, it destroys the vibrancy of the same simultaneously. And besides, can you really tell me who wouldn't want to be OG Cody Loco? At least for a little bit? ;-)

pabb 11y ago
As a white guy who also grew up in a predominantly black area with black friends and makes good money, your attempt to appear as the paragon of racial enlightenment makes me cringe.
- oldmanjay 11y ago
  Do you feel as though your experiences made you better than the OP and so you cringe because of your superior enlightenment? I can't imagine what else you might have in mind, I find nothing particularly cringeworthy in the OP, especially since the whole "paragon of racial enlightenment" bit seems to come entirely from your own head.

KingMob 11y ago

You're mistaken if you assume that going to Howard means they somehow have less experience with diversity than being in Silicon Valley. Black people, just by virtue of being a minority in America, are exposed to white people and culture at way higher rates than the reverse. In fact, a major point of going to a historically black college is to get a bit of a "break" from the dominant culture.

yummyfajitas 11y ago
Why does one need a "break" from a culture? I'm in India right now, live here 1/3 of the year, and have lived here extensively in the past. I don't need a "break". I don't need some "critical mass" of firangi around me. As a person who is willing to adapt to the world around me, that's all just a bunch of silliness. From what you say, it sounds as if many Howard students are less willing to adapt. That's fine. But it's pretty clear that for folks who are willing to adapt themselves (e.g., Chinese, Indian and other immigrants to the valley), the valley is quite welcoming.
- redwolfb14 11y ago
  I hear this sort of thing often enough that I need to reply. In general Asians claim that race or discrimination isn't the issue. That most of the issue falls to education and work ethic unfortunately i've come across quite a few very racist Indians and Asian people to be sure. In-fact not only do they tend to be very racist and large in parcel hold onto stereotypical tropes but they are also very classist. I say this as a black carribean man married to a chinese woman. It's truly a shame as some of the behavior I've seen meted out shouldn't be coming from these groups.