Does Divorce Do us Dirty at WWC?
Lili Jones | April 18, 2024
Most people have heard the old factoid that “half of all marriages end in divorce,” which is true to a point. But does it not sometimes feel like everyone you know comes from a so-called “broken home”?
A survey of 66 Warren Wilson College (WWC) students reveals that the variety of characters around campus may be molded by unconventional home lives that influenced them to choose a nontraditional college experience.
“I definitely think if I had been in a different financial circumstance, that my parents' divorcing would’ve affected my choice depending on which parent made more money or which one was my primary caregiver,” said Ellie Teweles, a second-year student on the Spiritual Life Crew whose parents divorced in 2022. “I was very set on a place that was strange and different and unconventional to begin with because that's just how I was raised.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the rates of marriage and divorce in the United States have been steadily lowering since 2000. The current rate is about 2.4 divorces per 1000 people, though those are not necessarily all married people.
The national divorce rate for first-time marriages is 43% within 15 years, and more with each successive marriage. At WWC, according to the survey, the likelihood of a student having divorced or separated parents is over 50%, which is higher than the national average.
Only about 35% of students surveyed reported that their parents had a sound legal binding.
Even more critical than divorce rates is the presence of nontraditional family dynamics — even in students whose parents may still be or may have never been married. Many WWC students come from homes where social norms are eschewed openly, which could lead to ideals and personalities that are generally considered “Wilson-core.”
When asked whether their home life contributed to their college choice, an anonymous student whose parents were polyamorous throughout their youth said, “Possibly.”
Another student whose parents divorced at a young age said, “It fucked me up a little.”
Their sentiment echoes studies by the National Institutes of Health, which state that
“The levels of both internalizing and externalizing problems were significantly higher in the period after parental divorce.”
Though this sample is only a tenth of the school’s population, the evidence of higher divorce rates among WWC families is compelling.
Warren Wilson College draws more students from unconventional homes than traditional “nuclear” families. I believe the collective trauma adds to the charming strangeness of our community.