New Harvard Survey Reveals 74% Of Black Graduating Students Felt Racially Marginalized

The survey also found that 14.4% of women said they were sexually assaulted.

Each year, the Harvard Crimson, the Ivy League university's daily newspaper, publishes an extensive survey on the lifestyles, reflections, and prospects of the graduating class.

This year the Crimson staff devoted much of the survey to addressing particular topics of controversy the school has been facing, such as academic dishonesty, grade inflation, racism, and sexual assault.

The Crimson reported that 760 people, nearly half the Harvard College graduating class, completed the anonymous survey.

The Crimson asked about students' personal experience with racial and sexual marginalization as well as sexual assault they or someone they knew had experienced.

74% of black students reported feeling marginalized due to their race, while 67% of students whose families made less than $80,000 a year "felt marginalized because of their socioeconomic status."

45% of students in the graduating class who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual reportedly said they "felt marginalized" due to their sexual orientation.

The Crimson reported that 55% of seniors said they know someone who was sexually assaulted. Students who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual were reportedly twice as likely to say they had been sexually assaulted.

Two-thirds of female seniors and 40% of male seniors said that they knew someone who had been sexually assaulted.

Also 3% of men said they were sexually assaulted and 7% of women said they were unsure whether they had been sexually assaulted.

Harvard was found in violation of Title IX regulations by the U.S. Department of Education for its response to on-campus sexual harassment and assault in December.

During this academic year the university has been conducting meetings to restructure its sexual assault policies.

The Crimson said in the report that "a new University-wide sexual misconduct policy [has been] the subject of fierce debate" among students and faculty.

The Crimson also asked about students' academic reactions to the cheating scandal that occurred their freshman year, as well as the accusations of grade inflation the school has been facing for years.

20% of the senior class said they cheated during their four years at the school. This response came after 125 undergraduates who were accused of cheating were suspended from the school in 2012, the responding class' freshman year.

Though the class reported a median GPA just below an A-, 72% of students think that grade inflation is not an issue.

The survey also measured GPA distribution over different races in the school, finding that East Asian students generally had the highest GPA (just over an A-) and black students had the lowest (halfway between a B+ and an A-), closely followed by Latinos.

White students landed around an A- average.

The reported starting salary for the 71% of seniors entering the workforce after graduation skewed in favor of white males.

49% of men entering the workforce reported that they will be making a starting salary of over $70,000 per year, while 9% of men say they will be making less than $30,000.

In comparison, 34% of women entering the workforce said they would be making a starting salary over $70,000, while 16% said they would be making less than $30,000.

Black students had the highest rate of entering into unpaid positions after college, with the majority getting a starting salary of $30,000 to $49,000, and 33% making over $70,000.

32% of Hispanic or Latino students and 60% of East Asian students said they will be making over $70,000 a year.

On the consensual sex front, a quarter of students told the Crimson they did not have sex during their entire time at Harvard.

While 21% lost their v-card during their freshman year.

In spite of these statistics, the Crimson reported that 95% of the 2015 graduating class said, given the chance, they would do Harvard all over again.

BuzzFeed News has reached out to Harvard University for comment.

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