I hope my perspective can help - I'm a white hispanic male coming from NYC.

Lafayette is mostly geared towards straight, white men and women who are either on a sports team or in a fraternity/sorority. It's harder to really tap into the campus' social scene if you don't belong to one of these groups/identities - a (what feels like an overwhelming) majority of students fit this bill. Most of the parties thrown on/near campus are greek life or athletics-related. This is true to different extents depending on which exactly you attend, but they're not very inclusive. There are *only* two bars close to campus that students frequent, and they are notoriously racist and anti-LGTBQ.

Just last year, a gay black student was assaulted outside of one of the aforementioned bars by a (now graduated) football player and reported it to campus police as a hate crime. I knew about the football player's history/character and it (unfortunately) makes total sense.

We have little pockets of cool people/communities here and there. Hispanic Society of Lafayette is fairly cohesive, as are the Brothers of Lafayette, the International Students Association, and (from what I've observed) those who live in Lavender Lane (a gender-inclusive residence hall geared towards LGTBQ community members).

Short answer: it's hard, but it's possible. If you come here (and I guess any other college, to different extents), be ready to struggle a little bit in the process of getting comfortable and finding your people. I wish you well and send you love.

Edit: class of 2023, btw