Fordham currently offers both full-term, year long- and short-term programs in over 74 different countries, spanning Europe, Africa, Central America, South America and the Far East. There are over 150 different programs in an effort to accommodate all students’ needs and individualize the level of academic, cultural,and linguistic experiences a student wishes to obtain.

According to Ronald S. Mendez-Clark, Ph.D., director of International & Study Abroad Programs, Fordham’s numbers far exceed the national average. “Our numbers are quite impressive and last year, for instance, the percentage of students from minority groups who study abroad was 40.” According to the study, the percentage of minority students participating in study abroad programs was 18, whereas white students accounted for the remaining 82 percent.

Mendez-Clark said that Fordham’s high numbers may be attributed to the fact that Fordham possesses a diverse student body and prides itself in educating and engaging the entire community on the impact of intercultural communication and exchange. “[Fordham is] relatively diverse and therefore not necessarily representative of most colleges and universities in the U.S.”

Joe Martinez, FCLC ’11, attended Fordham’s first semester-long abroad program in Granada, Spain, studying the Spanish language and culture, and was not surprised that Fordham’s numbers were above the national average.

He said, “Specifically in our institution, a lot of other programs from larger state schools were filled by predominately white students. Ours had a strong representation of Fordham’s student body. It was racially diverse and I feel our group was true to Fordham’s identity.”

However, Margo Masi, FCLC ’11, who studied abroad in Sydney, Australia, had a different experience. “Sydney is an extremely multi-cultural city but as far as the people I was studying abroad with, they were mostly Caucasian,” she said. Like Martinez, Masi found that larger schools that worked in conjunction with the same institution as Fordham’s program were predominantly white. “I went through Arcadia and approximately 4 of the 80 students were minorities.”

According to Peter Schmidt, author of an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education analyzing the study’s findings, “Minority students don’t need to seek out cross-cultural experiences by traveling to another country because, in most cases, they already regularly interact across cultural differences in their everyday lives.” Both Fordham students and faculty alike refuted this claim.

Masi said she believes that a student’s rationale behind choosing whether or not to study abroad is very individualized. “Its seems to me that individuals who already have cross-cultural experience at home might not have the desire to find it through study abroad, but I can’t say for sure.”

Arielle Polites, FCLC ’11, who attended a full language immersion program in Spain, believes the decision to go abroad has a lot to do with the subject one is studying. “Everyone I studied abroad with were language students, political science majors or some area in the humanities, so I think the subjects students wish to study determines their likelihood to go abroad, not race,” she said.

Both Polites and Martinez denied the article’s notion that minority students don’t study abroad because they participate in cultural exchange in their everyday lives.

Martinez said, “I think it is a generalization to say that minorities have cross cultural experiences at home. I’m Mexican; my mother is from Mexico, but I have never been to Mexico for more than two weeks at a time on vacation. I was born and raised in America, so I wouldn’t say I engage cross-cultural experiences in my everyday life.”

Polites said, “Just because I am Caucasian doesn’t mean I don’t experience culture in my everyday life. I have family that came from Europe. I am European-American and I felt a cultural connection to travel abroad to experience a way of life true to my past, not because I’ve never experienced culture at home.”

Mendez-Clark also has a disagreement with the article, stemming from its belief that marketing study abroad as an opportunity to engage in cross-cultural experiences leads to the lack of minority involvement.

He said, “I seriously wonder about the author’s premises. If these were correct, then students at universities in cities that offer considerable cross-cultural experiences would not be seeking to study abroad. That is not the case. From my perspective, all students want to study abroad. The main hurdle faced is financial.”