The University of Denver was ranked the 88th best college in U.S. and was also listed again as one of the least racially interactive schools in the nation, according to the U.S. News and World Report and Princeton Review, respectively. DU tied with nine other schools for the 88th slot in U.S. News’s annual college ranking, along with Auburn University, Howard University and the University of Tulsa, among others. The institution slid three spots from the 85th rank in last year’s edition.The Princeton Review included DU on its list of the “361 Best Colleges in America.” The magazine also ranked the Pioneer student body as number 13 in least interaction between race and class groups. DU was listed as the worst in the nation in that category a year ago.In response to last year’s ranking, the DU conducted its own study on diversity and interaction in the spring, the results of which were printed in the June issue of The Source, a DU community publication. Nearly 1,500 students responded, and 78 percent of the minority students surveyed said that they feel comfortable at DU. The percentile was slightly higher for the white, international and culturally mixed students polled. In that same study, about 15 percent of undergrads and 13 percent of graduate students considered themselves racially or culturally diverse. But while those numbers are higher than most other Colorado institutions, the Princeton Review attests that, though relatively diverse, DU students tend to interact only with other members of the same race or class.Warren Smith, a university spokesman, contends that the Princeton Review’s ranking is questionable.”Statistically,” he says, “the methodology [of the survey] is just unsound.”According to the Princeton Review’s Web site, over 100,000 people responded to this year’s nationwide study, but Smith says that no one knows who responds to such studies, or how many students at DU respond. He guesses that only a handful of people at the university responded. Smith pointed out that before last year’s ranking, DU did not appear on the least socially interactive list at all, only to jump to number one last year and number 13 this year.”Logically, it doesn’t make sense,” he said.Jesus Trevino, the associate Provost for Multicultural Excellence, agreed with Smith.”No one knows how the Princeton Review conducts its survey,” he said. Trevino adds that DU is progressive in its diversity and interaction, and that programs including intergroup dialogue meetings, diversity retreats and the Diversity Summit increase that interaction. He also says that the Campus Climate Counsel, a student group that attempts to improve the social environment for everyone on campus, is the only group of its kind in the U.S.While Smith and Trevino agree that there is room for improvement at DU, both concur that the school continues to serve as a great educational environment and experience.”We do have problems,” said Trevino, “but we are being very proactive in solving them.”Students who wish to make their opinion heard can take the Princeton Review’s survey at www.princetonreview.com.