Fighting racial stereotypes on US campuses often begins by putting students of different ethnic backgrounds together -- under one dormitory roof. Sam Boakye was a freshman at Ohio State University and the only black student on his floor. He was determined to get good grades -- in part to make sure his white roommate had no basis for negative racial views. "You're pushed to do better, to challenge the stereotype that black people are not that smart," he told theNew York Times. Several recent studies have found that having a roommate of a different race can reduce prejudice , diversify  friendships and even promote students' academic performance. In a study by Ohio State psychology professor Russell Fazio, black freshmen who came to college with high test scores earned better grades if they had a white roommate--even if the roommate's test scores were low. Another study on student interaction by Duke University suggests that freshmen with roommates of a different race were the most likely to diversify their friendships. "Just having diversity in classrooms doesn't do anything to increase interracial friendships," said Claudia Buchman, an author of the Duke study. "But living together with a different-race roommate does lead to more interracial friendships." There are, however, some problems with such room assignments. Fazio's study found that three times as many randomly  assigned interracial roommates weren't living together at the end of the semester, compared with white roommates. Interracial roommates also spent less time together, had fewer joint activities and were less involved with each other's friends than white pairs. As for Boakye, this is not the case. "A lot of white students come without much exposure to diversity, so when their first interaction with a black guy isn't bad, they will make more black friends. I think I made a good impression on my freshman roommate. I saw him this year, and he said, 'Hey dude, you're not the only black friend I have.' That felt good." Sam Boakye was determined to get good grades partly because   _  .
he wanted to prove he was a smart boy he intended to please his parents he wished to earn the scholarship he wanted to show black people are as smart as white people