Are we an institution divided? When individuals gravitate toward similar people, it can create divides along identity-based lines. Data from the annual State of the Academy (SOTA) survey show that students consistently perceive social divides across nearly every measured category.
In particular, in 2026, 53.2% of respondents identified race as a source of social division, down from 73.0% in 2023, but it remained the most-cited category. In 2026, socioeconomic status followed at 32.5%; political belief stood at 32.5%, having declined from a high of 65.6% in 2021. Neurodivergence, a category added in the 2022 SOTA, stood at 12.3% in 2026. Though percentages have declined over the years, students continue to describe these divides from their own experiences.
George Richardson ’27 pointed to race in particular as a defining and observable pattern in Andover’s social life.
“The biggest social divide that I see in my day-to-day life is the divide between races. I think it’s quite common for friend groups to be initiated solely based on sharing [a] common background. I know it can be sensitive to talk about, but honestly, if you look at a lot of friend groups, they tend to revolve more so around race… Despite our efforts to mitigate it with our residential system of having dorms that are intentionally diverse, I think that a lot of times, friend groups more often than not lend themselves towards race,” said Richardson.
On the other hand, Nafi Diagne ’26 described racial solidarity as an often inadvertent starting point for friendship at Andover.
“I do think a lot of my close friends are Black, but also a lot of them aren’t. It might have to do with activities we both like to do. Some of my close friends [are Black] because I ran with them in Cross Country, or because I was on the [African Student Association (ASA)] board with them,” said Diagne.
Christian Robinson ’28 described the evolution of his friend group at Andover, particularly in regard to race.
“When I first came in here, I felt like I had a diverse friend group, but especially with white students… [I had] a lot more white friends than I have now. I feel, as time progressed, and I’m not saying every person is like this… it turned out a lot of people were inconsiderate or acted a certain way that I just couldn’t get behind. So I tended to join more groups with my friends who are Black or my friends who are [Latine], my friends who are Asian,” said Robinson.
Though Robinson does not identify as mixed-race, he drew on friends’ experiences to describe the challenges mixed-race students face in finding a sense of belonging.
He continued, “For my background personally, I don’t know if people really talk about this, but I [have white ancestry from my dad’s side of the family]. That’s a thing that, [when I tell] my friends, there were a lot of jokes and backlash and stuff from that… I feel [mixed] students who are coming here, especially Black and white mixed for sure, are having a hard time fitting in… like fitting in on one side, ‘am I supposed to act this way, supposed to act that way?’ And then students end up changing what they actually want to be.”
2025-26 Junior Class Representative Chance Hernandez ’29 reflected on how being white-passing has shaped how others perceive him and the spaces he can navigate.
“I’m Hispanic [but] white-passing… Most of the time, I have to explain that my dad is from Mexico… When I was in a majority Hispanic community, I had to explain that I was indeed Mexican a lot more than I do here. It seems that people are equipped with more nuance and maybe tact in some regards to understand that. There are people of all different ethnic backgrounds. I think that’s a strength,” said Hernandez.
He continued, “I don’t think people have viewed me negatively because of the way in which I look. I also understand that it is because, not specific to Andover, but to some people, I don’t look Hispanic. So I get the benefit of being white-passing… it allows me to be in certain circles without other prejudices at play.”
Additionally, Robinson expressed surprise that, in 2026, only 12.3% of students reported a social divide related to neurodivergence. He pointed to experiences he has heard from peers that suggest otherwise.
“I have a lot of friends who are neurodivergent. Hearing their experience, it might not be othering as in completely pointing it out, but othering as in, ‘Why are you doing this?’ Like, harsh reactions to [how] they think or act… What I’ve heard a lot of, too, is R-word usage… I feel even [after] talking to them, people have still continued to abuse that word, and also abuse the way we judge intelligence. There’s a lot of [using] ‘slow,’ ‘sped,’ words like that thrown around in a playful context, but [for] some people, it might not come off as playful, and it can develop into other things and insecurities,” said Robinson.
Sami Tokat ’26, an Empathy, Balance, and Inclusion (EBI) Senior who recently led a session for Lowers on identity and resource access, stated that many social divides originate from resource disparities in students before Andover.
“You see a lot of social divide among the students by different identity markers. Race, socioeconomic background, the city that kids are from. In different environments, it manifests differently. But you can see it from even the sports that certain kids end up taking up. For example, our Crew team has different identity marker demographics compared to some of the other sports, because of barriers [to] entry and other means… Access to resources before coming into Andover shapes how you interact with the resources here at Andover,” said Tokat.
Destiny Covington ’26, 2025-26 Co-President of Classism at Phillips Academy (CAPA), discussed Andover’s Community and Multicultural Development (CaMD) space, stating that while it fosters diversity within its doors, the rest of campus may resist that culture.
“If you think about any sort of conversations around diversity or just inclusion, it sort of all gets filtered through CaMD. But all these other spaces at Andover… there’s a sort of fundamental culture of assimilation and whiteness, and I think that that’s something that should be addressed, but I don’t really know how,” said Covington.
She continued, “There was this one interesting concept that a teacher introduced me to, [Instructor in English Thomas] Kane… in [English 517, ‘Last Acts: Remember Me?’]. We were talking about the politics of recognition and what it means to be an intentionally diverse community, as Andover identifies. When we have spaces like CaMD, it seems like the fact that we’re trying to fight so hard for those spaces of inclusivity just illustrates how, [fundamentally,] Andover is not integrating those things yet if we have to push so hard for it to be recognized in the first place.”
Mia Isacson ’26, an Editor on Andover’s global affairs newspaper “The Revere,” thought that boarding school can intensify social divides by separating many students from their familiar communities.
“I think that at other public schools or even other private day schools, it just isn’t the same divide because you have a family to come back to, your neighbors to come back to who are very familiar to you, and that isn’t the case at Andover… [People are] away from their families and away from things that are familiar to them. And of course, people are going to be closer to people who are similar to them. I am friends with a lot of people who are from New York or Europe… But I do think that it’s sort of avoiding the whole Andover purpose because people who should be having conversations, people who are of different classes, of different races, aren’t,” said Isacson.
Isacson voiced that socioeconomic class can influence relationships, but often changes as students form connections beyond those initial similarities.
“Can you go to dinner downtown? Do you [want to] go shopping together? I think that impacts a lot of relationships. But be open-minded. I think that there is a class divide, but I also think that people are going to try finding new things to connect,” said Isacson.
Tokat asserted that race and socioeconomic background are closely connected, pointing to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel “Americanah” as a framework for understanding this relationship.
“[“Americanah”] really got me thinking about this. The concept that after… [a] certain socioeconomic level… the differences between racial experience are still there, but they’re so minimized, in an interesting way. Because people actually have a lot of the same experiences after [a] certain socioeconomic background,” said Tokat.
Speaking to the political divide among Andover students, Maddie Shin ’27, Co-President and Founder of the Independent Party Club, noticed a lack of political discussion on campus.
“Political opinions aren’t necessarily talked about that much on campus, just because, well, one, it’s a sensitive topic. Two, you don’t know if the person you’re talking to about it is going to either refute you or just agree. I feel like political opinions are mostly talked about among close friends, people you’re comfortable with,” said Shin.
Tokat reflected that political differences at Andover have become increasingly polarized, influencing how students engage with opposing views.
“I think we’ve gotten politically more polarized. I think that’s also manifested, especially with the current administration and current politics. I think students have been less and less tolerant of other opposing views on identity as well. And I think that that’s also manifested within hate speech culture at our school,” said Tokat.
He discussed how students can make assumptions based on others’ outward appearance, intensifying social divides.
“People definitely create an expectation for you depending on what they can see on the outside. For example, clothes are a big deal. How you present yourself with the clothes that you wear, people kind of think that your whole identity is based on that… it’s definitely shaped my experience with people a lot. They expect things about me that aren’t true. I think [at] a lot of schools, it’s like, oh, designer this, designer that. It’s not even that here at Andover. It’s just like, you wear a collared shirt and all of a sudden you’re a descendant of Da Vinci,” said Tokat.
Diagne commented on why she believes social divides at Andover are an issue.
“If your friend group is just an echo chamber of your beliefs and experiences, then you become really narrow-minded, and it’s difficult for you to understand where other people are coming from and to understand how certain things affect them that may have never affected you… you’ve never had to consider them in your life,” said Diagne.
Several students evaluated solutions. As part of the Afro-Latine American Society (AfLatAm) and AfLatAm Mentorship Program (AMP), Richardson resisted the idea that affinity groups should be responsible for addressing social divides.
“I don’t think we address social divides, but I don’t think we need to. I think sometimes just the idea of having a community around you and empowering what you already have is more beneficial than focusing on the negatives of Andover social life. There is certainly merit in addressing those tough conversations, but for clubs like AfLatAm, Alianza Latina, or MOSAIC, I think it’s better to foster a community before you get to those conversations,” said Richardson.
Isacson encouraged students to explore new teams and clubs, and noted certain administrative policies as means to ease social divides.
“I think sports teams. I mean, I’m not in one, but I know from all my friends who are in sports teams, you meet so many people who aren’t like yourself… so goes the same for debate [clubs] or Mock Trial or The Phillipian, which push you to make new friends,” said Isacson.
She continued, “People aren’t going to like [what I’m saying], but the phone policy, not having kids on their phones. If they don’t want to be seen sitting alone at a table instead of pulling up their phone or their laptop, they actually go sit next to someone whom they wouldn’t have originally.”
Tokat stated that Andover should work to counter polarization by reducing the idea that students are competing along lines of identity, especially in college admissions.
“If we pit people against each other in places where we don’t need to, especially different groups of different identity markers, then we’re just going to have a more polarized society… Andover is a preparatory school, so [it is] preparing students to apply to colleges. And obviously, college is another dimension of American society where people think that they’re pitted against each other due to identity markers. So I think Andover should think about that and try to foster an environment where communication about college applications and etcetera is communicated clearly,” said Tokat.
Hernandez recognized that while the administration has taken steps toward easing social divides, the rest of the work lies in individual student effort.
“There’s a large amount of work that has been done in decreasing the presence and feeling of a social divide here… Andover’s work in need-blind admissions and their proactive measures in that regard. Just recently, in my dorm, we had the Dean of CaMD [Aquita Winslow] come and speak about… showing grace toward others and calling them in rather than calling out,” said Hernandez.
He continued, “The institution is attempting, rightfully so, to just curb [discriminatory] behavior… Now it’s just having humility and authenticity and recognizing where you can improve upon your previous behavior… [that’s] what would allow you to connect with more people on campus. Since we all make mistakes and all of us are imperfect people living within imperfect systems, it’s not a moral failing to exist and do wrong. But we should seek to amend those wrongs and to care about the people we’ve hurt.”
Diagne shared a similar philosophy.
“I don’t think it’s something that would be addressed on a school-wide scale. I think the way it’s changed is by an individual making active efforts to be friends with people who are different from them and taking advantage of the fact that at Andover, you’ll meet someone from Colorado if you’re like me from Massachusetts… you have to take initiative to do that as an individual,” said Diagne.
