Black student enrollment down 10 percent since ’96
MINORITY from page 1
other countries.
Admissions officials said a number
of factors could have contributed to the
lack of improvement in minority enroll
ment
Regardless, students say, the num
bers show UNL needs to stop talking
about solutions and do something.
Finding the cause
Students leave UNL for various rea
sons, Harris said, such as financial prob
lems, lack of maturity, the decision to
transfer to another school or campus cli
mate.
The admissions standards imple
mented in 1997 may have partly caused
the drop in the black population, he said
The standards require students to be
in the top half of their graduating class
es or have ACT or SAT scores higher
than an increased base score to be
assured admission to UNL.
Assuming that all high school stu
dents receive the same education, the
standards wouldn’t have a significant
impact on one population, Harris said
But he said it’s hard to tell whether
all students are offered the same educa
tional experience, he said
Multicultural Affairs Director
Jimmi Smith agreed
“It’s no secret that the African
American community was in disagree
ment with the university in terms of its
change in standards,” Smith said
I-—
Dissenting, Larry Routh, interim
admissions director, said it would be dif
ficult to tell if admissions standards has
affected minority numbers.
“I don’t think there’s any evidence to
indicate that,” Routh said.
Other reasons offered for the
decline in black student enrollment is
that the admissions office was in a state
of transition last April, the month when
many students commit to the university,
associate admissions director Pat
McBride said.
The former minority recruitment
director; Barbara Carrasco-Fechner, left
the position to return to graduate school.
Cynthia Gooch, then-education special
ist in the office of Multicultural Affairs,
was hired as the new director.
She didn’t start the position until
this year, but her efforts have been
noticed by the admissions office, Routh
said. He has seen more minority faces
on campus during recruitment days.
Smith said he wasn’t surprised by
the decrease in black student enroll
ment. However, he said, the number of
black students in Nebraska’s high
schools is increasing.
“If they are occupying those seats in
greater numbers, then they should be
showing up in greater numbers at the
university,” Smith said.
A troubled relationship with minor
ity students combined with increased
admissions standards has hurt retention
and recruitment, Smith said.
“You’re losing on the retention side.
You’re losing on the admissions side,”
Smith said. “So you’re losing big time
overall.”
Smith said he thinks the
Multicultural Affairs office hasn’t
received enough funding from the uni
versity or the state to meet the needs of
the minority students it serves.
As an office that focuses most of its
efforts on minority students,
Multicultural Affairs has received more
funding from its own efforts than the
university’s budget, Smith said.
The office depends on external
grants to run many of its programs, such
as the TRIO programs, each of which
focuses on high school minority stu
dents, undergraduate students and grad
uate students.
The office offers services such as
tutoring and study skills development,
counseling and financial aid programs.
A couple of steps’
Letting students know what is being
done to recruit and retain minority stu
dents, and letting them know they are
important to the university is key, said
senior Omar Valentine, chairman of the
Afrikan People’s Union political issues
committee.
Each academic college should take
its own steps to recruit minority students
as well, Bunting said.
As just one example, Bunting said
she has noticed the small number of
minority students in the College of
Journalism and Mass Communications,
which she said had few black students
and professors.
Efforts are being made to change
that Linda Shipley, the college’s associ
ate dean, said the college has been try
ing to get information to more students
about minority organizations.
The college also has a program in
which it actively recruits minority junior
high and high school students.
The students attend a weekend
workshop in the summer where they
learn journalism skills. The college also
brings in minorities who are profession
al journalists to talk to the students.
“It is a slow process, but we have
been trying to do more,” she said.
The college also helps admissions
with the recent implementation of
minority recruitment days, Shipley said.
On recruitment days, Valentine said
it is important to show prospective stu
dents what minority organizations are
available to them.
Those who already are on campus
need to know what is being done as well.
Not many know about the soon-to
be-implemented diversity plan, which is
aimed at increasing diversity and diver
sity awareness in the student, faculty
and staff populations, Valentine said
Bunting has high hopes for the
diversity plan, but said the university
has to be committed to make it work.
Administrators released the first
draft of the plan last January. Writers of
the plan constantly have sought student
input through faculty and student
forums, with the latest of its drafts com
ing out in September.
Chancellor James Moeser sent a
campuswide e-mail asking for input on
the newest plan.
‘Beyond good intentions’
Harris said the University of
Missouri-Columbia has focused on
increasing its black population and has
been successful.
It has nearly doubled the number of
black students from 642 undergraduates
in 1993 to 1,126 in 1997.
“They went beyond good inten
tions,” Haris said.
Programs Missouri started included
summer enrichment programs,
overnight programs for prospective stu
dents and minority recruiters in both St _
Louis and Kansas City, Mo.
A black student culture center was
recently built there as well, Harris said.
Harris said change will come when
the university and the state commit to
doing things like Missouri has.
“My hope is that (UNL’s) efforts
become very specific.”
Hostile climate may fend off students
By Lindsay Young
Senior staff writer
A cross burning and an allegedly
racist e-mail are still on the minds of
many minority students and adminis
trators when the topics of UNL
recruitment and retention come up in
conversation.
These highly publicized incidents
no doubt had an impact on students’
decisions to come to or to stay at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said
John Harris, special assistant to the
vice chancellor for student affairs.
However, the incidents played only a
part in students’ decisions, he said.
Students and administrators agree
these events may have left minority
students wondering if UNL has a
campus that welcomes minorities.
In January 1997, about 30 Sigma
Chi Fraternity members burned a
cross as part of an initiation ritual.
The ritual was not meant to be
racist, members said, but many inter
preted it that way. An uproar ensued
throughout the state and the country.
A year later, in February 1998,
then-English professor David Hibler
sent an e-mail containing prose with
the word “nigga” to about 300 faculty
members and students. He said it was
the principle of academic freedom
that permitted him to do so and that
the prose was merely literature.
Many thought otherwise and
branded him racist and insensitive.
Another event not racially moti
vated contributed to an atmosphere
some students considered intolerant
In fall 1997, anti-gay messages
were written on campus sidewalks
during National Coming Out Week.
When things like this happen, the
admissions office has to be prepared
to answer questions from prospective
students’ families, said Pat McBride,
associate admissions director.
McBride said what has happened
could have potentially affected stu
dents’ decisions to come here.
“People will ask, ‘Is this a good
atmosphere for my kid to go to
school?”’ McBride said.
Senior Omar Valentine, chairman
of the Afrikan People’s Union politi
cal issues committee, said news of
those events spreads quickly.
Valentine said that when he
attended the Big 12 Conference on
Black Student Government last year
in Lincoln, many students from other
schools asked him and other UNL
students about some incidents.
“Everybody got ahold of it,” he
said.
UNL has received credit for its
handling of such events. Student lead
ers have said it has improved in the
time it takes to denounce such actions.
Chancellor James Moeser
responded immediately with a public
statement when he heard about
Hibler’s e-mail. The university has
held forums and has visited with stu
dents about these incidents.
What the university has done to
improve diversity efforts will be help
ful, but the fact these incidents keep
occurring shows more steps are need
ed, Multicultural Affairs Director
Jimmi Smith said.
“The institution has not sought to
correct those issues in some quality
way.”
-—-——-1
Nov. 17, 18,19 FORUMS FOCUS ON DIVERSITY PLAN DRAFT
The campus community is invited to a discussion of the working draft of a
Diversity Plan for the University of Nebraska-Uncoln.
Three open forum sessions have been scheduled
for faculty, staff and students to provide input.
Bring your ideas to the following sessions:
•Faculty: 3:30-5 p.m. Nov. 17, Nebraska Union.
•Management/Professional and Office/Service Staff: 11:30 a.m.
to 1 p.m. Nov. 18, East Union (feel free to bring your lunch).
•Students: 3:30-5 p.m. Nov. 19, Nebraska Union.
'check the calendars on lobby kiosks under the heading UNf Diversity Plan-Open
Forum for room numbers. 1
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Another way to give input is to send comments via email to: <lcrump@unl.edu>;
<bcurrin}@unl.edu>; or <ejacobsonl@unl.edu>.
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