question about “PWI”

For context I am a URM, but Hispanic, not Black, so forgive me if this comes from an ignorant perspective. I’m trying to understand why people on this sub refer to top law schools (often in a very negative or condensing manner) as PWIs. As someone who went to a very non diverse undergrad (90% white Catholic school), I’ve always wanted to attend a law school that’s more diverse and dynamic.

My confusion is I think lies mostly about the semantics. I don’t think there’s a single agreed upon definition for what “predominantly” means in “Predominantly White Institution.” Is it over 50%? 65%? 80%? By my understanding, it means more than half. But using that threshold, very few of the top law schools I’m considering have a student body that’s majority white. I understand that not everyone on this subreddit is applying to top schools though so maybe that’s part of the problem, from what I understand the diversity of student bodies, generally speaking, drops off significantly outside of the T20.

So, when people call a law school a PWI, are they talking specifically about the demographics of the law school itself? Or do they mean the entire university student population? Or are they talking about the faculty, administration, or overall culture?

I can see how a place like Yale, even if it’s only ~40% white, could still be considered a PWI because of institutional culture and who holds power in the administration. But among the schools I’m looking at, only about 5 or 6 even hit or exceed the white population share you’d expect based on white share of the population and that demographics educational attainment rates/other resources that lead them to law school. Is this a reality people don’t see or do we still all ignorantly think that these schools are packed entirely with rich white kids? All of these schools, in spite of it being a white dominated field, seem extremely diverse on paper (more so my expectations) literally the whitest school I’m applying to is Boston college at 63% which isn’t surprising given it’s Catholic, Boston, and suburban. Though I do admit that this representation varies, especially for Black and Hispanic students. For example, relative to the percentage of Hispanics with undergrad degrees, schools like Yale, Stanford, and Cornell might even be slightly over representing Hispanic students, while Black students are underrepresented at nearly every school, often by concerning margins (for example Notre Dame 3.5% Black, Berkeley 5%, Harvard 6.2%).

TLDR: I’m basically wondering whether I’m taking the term “PWI” too literally. Does it still make sense to call a law school a PWI even if it’s only ~40% white, because Black students are still severely underrepresented relative to their share of the population?