Eighteen-year-old freshman Julie Vitola attended high school in the suburbs of Philadelphia, where she says the hallways were filled with “a lot of people who looked the same.”

When choosing a college, Vitola, who is studying film, knew that she wanted to attend a university that had a multicultural student body.

“I remember feeling so welcome here,” Vitola said. “There are students from all over the world on our campus. And even though we’re from separate backgrounds, everyone is open; we learn about each other every day.”

Like other students, Vitola has a busy schedule; however, once a week she and a dozen other members of the Student Multicultural Admissions Recruitment Team volunteer their time to participate in phone-a-thons and online chats designed to answer questions from prospective students about diversity and student life at Temple.

Organized by Louidine J. Scott, assistant director of multicultural recruitment, S.M.A.R.T. comprises students from different ethnic backgrounds and academic majors who have one thing in common: They are dedicated to making sure that Temple remains one of the most diverse campuses in the nation.

Scott, who earned her undergraduate degree from Temple in 2003, can personally relate to the importance of a multicultural learning environment. Originally from Haiti, Scott had the opportunity to attend school in Europe and Canada, but chose to come to Temple because of its diverse student body.

“I remember visiting Temple with a family member and realizing that I could experience the entire world from this campus,” Scott said. “I felt like I wouldn’t miss out on the rest of the world by attending school here.”

According to university enrollment statistics, nearly one-third of Temple undergraduates report their ethnicity as African American, Hispanic, Asian American or Native American. The 2008 edition of the Princeton Review's annual college guidebook, The Best 366 Colleges, identified Temple's undergraduate student body as the most diverse in the nation.

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine ranks Temple No. 6 among American universities in the total number of bachelor's degrees awarded to African-American students. Of the five universities ahead of Temple, three are historically black institutions.

Temple has placed in the top 10 in diversity in each of the past five editions of Best Colleges and eight of the past nine editions. The university debuted in the top 20 in the 1995 edition and made its first appearance in the top 10 in 1998.

When choosing a university, diversity was just as important as the school’s academic ranking for Kherise Benoit, a film and political science major. Born in Trinidad and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Benoit makes sure to relate how important a diverse campus has been to her overall learning experience when she speaks to prospective students.

“I want to make sure that incoming students have the same experience that I had,” the 18-year-old freshman said. “Hearing it from me helps them realize that diversity is not just about numbers for Temple. Students who attend school here really represent the world; it’s not just a concept.”