t
onry attairs to
'help students stay '
The Minority Affairs
director must siabiilzw
UNL minority programs
and ease pressures that
"push minority students
out of the University."
that's how" Jimmi Smitt
describes the. office he
filled July 1.He served as
acting director last year
offer LeRoy Ramsey left
the post for'another.
Of minority students,
Smith said:
"Some drop out of the
University, some are
pushed out, and some opt
for other kinds of. post
secondary education."
. He said Minority Af
fairs must help the stu
dents stay in school.
UNL expects 50-60
Bfack freshmen this fall,
Smith said. There were
about 180 black students
on campus last year.
Fourteen black students
graduated In May.
There were 57 Mexican
American students on
campus last year. Twenty
seven Chicano freshmen
are registered for fall. One
graduated in May.
Four Indian freshmen
are enrolled for fall. There
were 27 at UNL last yean
None graduated in May.
. The numbers point to a
serious drop-out problem,
Smith said.
"Financial aids have
caused some nightmares,"
he said.
Students get the differ
ence between their finan
cial resourceds and $2,400,
Smith said. That is. the
amount of money the
financial aids office fig
ures students need for one
year of college
But Smith said the
money is awarded annual
ly, and shortages in the
1972-73 school year rein
forced minority students'
uncertainties from year to
year.
"Some students had to
borrow $1,000 in 1972.
Multiply that times four
and that's a lot of money
for blacks who, contrary to
popular opinion, are not
getting those high-paying
job3 when they graduate,"
Smith said.
But cultural differences,
more than financial prob
lems, cause most minority
students to leave, UNL,
Smith said. .
Most come from fami
lies with little educational
background, he said, and
expect too much of the
University.
A Minority Education
Program partially spon
sored by Minority Affairs
is intended to fix that, he
said. .
University representa
tives visit minority seniors
in all Nebraska high
schools to tell them about
UNL and other post
secondary education op
tions open to them.
"Minority students face
daily harassments here on
campus," Smith said.
He hss couseled stu
dents who return from
dormitory floor meetings
to find "Nigger" written
in shaving cream on their
doors or who are forced to
listen fo jokes derogatory
to blacks.
Whenever something is
stolen in a dormitory,
Smith said, black students
are suspected,
"Academic and cultural
programs arc not suffi
cient to entice minority
students to stay. For the
Wednesday, sugusi 21, 1074
blacks, almosl nothing
speaks to their Issue's, -or
cultural experiences famil
iar to them, to re'force
their Africanisms."
Smith said he thinks it's
important that minority
students stick out their
undergraduate years
"Hard times shouldn't
be a new phenomenon to
minorities.. Only through
.those pressures will they
learn more about them
selves and how to deal
with people different from
themselves."
He said the Minority
Affairs o'f fee tries to make
t easier through:
Indiyual'D'ac. Chi
cano ano Indian -.'irr-elors;
,
-the Minority C'i!:i:ral
Center at 1012 W i.:f-. Sr.,
and recreational ,-rr ;;(.
tural program.'-; the".
the Learning Ccrver ,
where tutors, lo'i'-i, ond
typewriters are av i ; jbl
a-iiCArr.DUc.T!CN
v . -
...t . Cvi,.uas
V
r
!
i
' . i
V; h
t ' 41. I1 I
swjsi,( . ' a
Jimmi Smith . .. . new director
to minority students; and
University-w.ide mi
norities cultural program
ming. . '
. Black .'students' coir-
selor is Annette Hudson;
Chicano, Marty Ramirez;
and Indian, Karen Buller
until Sept. 1.
Those positions show
the instability in minority
programs, Smith said.
Since 1970, there have
been four Indian 'coun
selors, three black and
three Chicano.
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