"For me, anyway, my biggest thing at Harvardisn't about being part of a racial group, or whatit's like to be mixed or biracial," says Tai, whosays most of her friends come from the communityservice programs in which she is involved.

Even though she does not try to choose friendsof a particular ethnic background, Tai says mostof her friends are Asian. "I don't think Iconsciously do that," Tai says. "Who ever hasinterests that match yours--for me, that's how itcomes."

Kurtis I. Auguste '96, an Eliot House residentwhose parents are from Trinidad, says he has noteda tendency toward racial self-segregation--atleast in terms of the disparity between the numberof minorities living in the Quad and the numberliving in River houses.

But Auguste, a New Yorker whose mother isChinese and Venezuelan and father is Black,French, English, Spanish and Scottish, says heisn't surprised.

"I would expect nothing less from Harvard,"Auguste says. "People have such strong views abouteverything."

According to Auguste, Harvard is a home for"intellectuals whose voices are now maturing, andthis is the testing ground for those opinions."

Auguste, who was recently elected cochair ofthe Caribbean Club and has served as arepresentative for the Harvard Foundation forIntercultural and Race Relations, says he does notchoose to associate with one race more thananother.

"I feel no obligation to any friends of anyparticular ethnicity," Auguste says. "In New York,there's a Chinese person to your left and anIndian to your right. I'm not going to change mythought pattern because I'm at Harvard. I make myjudgments on personality rather than skin color."

The problem that Auguste sees is mainly"geographical"--that minorities tend to flock toQuad houses, while River houses are mostly"white."

"A good half of my friends live up in theQuad," Auguste says.

For Johnson-Arbor, it was fear of segregationthat led her to adamantly refuse to live in theQuad, even though her best friends from her firstyear wanted to live there. Because she felt"there's more diversity in the River [house],"Johnson-Arbor separated from her friends and nowlives in a single in Leverett House.

Emphasis on Race

For many biracial students, Harvard's tendencytoward self-segregation has a lot to do with anemphasis--or overemphasis--on race that isuniquely American.

Tai says because she was brought up by Jamaicanparents, she didn't grow up thinking about race.

"They didn't have the history of the wholeracial tension that went on in America," Tai says.