The University of Colorado is marking record levels of minority students on its Boulder campus – impressive progress after a period of disappointment. But the hard work is just beginning for the students, administrators and staff.
Retaining and graduating students is often more difficult than recruiting diverse faces to the mostly white campus and town. And some students say the campus climate hasn’t yet made enough of an improvement.
“I’d like to remain optimistic and say we’re making progress,” said said Mebraht Gebre-Michael, a former student government leader on the Blue Ribbon Commission told The Post. Last year, she received a profane and epithet-filled death threat via e-mail. “But until I see a drop in racial incidents on campus or a change in the racial climate on campus, I can’t say that.”
CU officials reported 4,177 American degree-seeking students of color this fall, and minorities now make up 15 percent of undergraduate students on campus. Both are believed to be records.
Most colleges and universities desire a more diverse student population, but too many only pay lip service to the ideal. CU’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Diversity, which is made up of community members of several races and professions, has put forward several workable solutions, including asking university president Hank Brown and other top officials to visit black and Latino churches and meet with possible students and their families.
While the number of black students at CU-Boulder is actually down this year, Brown credits the 122 percent increase in black students at CU-Denver – that’s 33 additional students – to a vice chancellor who is literally knocking on doors in predominantly black neighborhoods.
And the university is putting some money behind their ideas. About $2.6 million has been raised for pre-collegiate scholarships – money that helps first-generation-college, low-income and minority students pay to take college classes while enrolled in high school.
The increase of 29 American Indian students on the Boulder campus – a 112 percent jump – can be attributed to a new scholarship program solely for American Indians, Brown has said.
Boulder is the least diverse of CU’s three campuses at 1.5 percent African-American and 6 percent Latino. CU-Denver is 4 percent African-American and 10 percent Latino, while the Colorado Springs campus is 3.8 percent African-American and 8.9 percent Latino.
CU toyed with the idea of making its admissions requirements more “flexible” in order to admit more minorities. Students of color already make up 25 percent of those admitted below the school’s admissions “index” and only 12.5 percent of students admitted within the index requirement.
Fortunately, the idea has been nixed. CU’s goal must be graduating more ethnic minorities, not just attracting them to campus. Students who can’t compete academically would be hurt in the long run.
While CU appears to be making a robust effort to boost its minority numbers, enrollment continues to be a problem with roots in K-12 education. The pool of ethnic minority students for CU to recruit is too small, as far too many minorities drop out before finishing high school.
CU’s commitment to diversity will only succeed if the state’s K-12 foundation improves and a better pipeline is built from secondary schools to our colleges and universities. Once the students arrive on campus, they need to find a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere.
All of this won’t happen overnight, but it needs to happen.
