Compared to other local colleges, Mars Hill College in the Appalachian Mountains is made up of a more diversified student body. Many different races and ethnicities attend MHC.
Mars Hill also has a large community of student athletes who account for almost 41% of the on-campus population. Also, many social and religious groups co-exist around campus, such as fraternities, sororities and groups associated with spiritual pursuits.
With such a diverse collection, it is a wonder how it all meshes.
The population is small, hovering at 1,000, and students concur that the town surrounding the college yields few ways to escape the scene on campus.
“People are forced to coexist,” said Sherman Ragland, a freshman at Mars Hill. He is a Durham, NC, native. Ragland explained that back home “things are different.” At Mars Hill, he said, the social atmosphere is unique.
Although Mars Hill is a majority white college, with 77 percent being Caucasian, there is a significant number of students of color (Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian American), presently making up 23 percent of the student population.
This large percent of students of color is unusual for mountain schools. UNC-Asheville is reported to only have 7 percent of its student population being students of color, according to Collegeboard.com, a reference tool many high school students use to look up statistics about institutions of higher education. Eastern Tennessee State University in Johnson City reports 10 percent.
So what is it about Mars Hill that makes the campus so diverse? Kwan Thomas believes it’s the people that make it all work.
“I got a new group of friends, and I just got used to it,” said Thomas, of Winston-Salem.
Thomas, a freshman this year, is learning the ways of the “Hill” social scene.
“Most of my friends are athletes. Some of them run on the track team,” Thomas said. “We are pretty tight-knit clique, if you want to call it that.”
Thomas did not participate in a sport at Mars Hill this year but has plans on running track next year. Right now, he is a regular student, he admits, just trying to focus on class and getting good grades.
One difference is his appearance. His head is covered with dreadlocks. Thomas answered honestly about whether he felt his hair excluded him from any groups on campus.
“I’ve been thinking about this,” he said. “Some people don’t approach me because of them (dreadlocks). Some white people feel like it’s intimidating. Because of my hairstyle, I’m subjected to a certain type of behavior. “
So, in Thomas’ case, there is some tension on campus due to being different.
The cafeteria is one place where diversity of the student body is evident every day. People pile into the large dining hall at regular intervals to get a hot plate and sit with their friends.
“When you go to the Caf, you see the different tables, and it looks like it’s segregated,” Thomas said. “It may be because we’re different.”
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