Getting minorities on campus is one thing.

Keeping them on campus is quite another.

The Office of Institutional Diversity, in its 2006 assessment, achieved a 66 percent freshman-to-sophomore retention rate for black students from fall 2004 to fall 2005 – a figure lower than the same year’s 78 percent rate for whites.

The lower retention rate underscores that CMU’s challenges do not end upon a student’s arrival. Keeping the student motivated and ensuring a comfortable learning environment remain essential.

To the university’s credit, the same retention rates for other minorities, including Asian Americans, actually were greater than that of whites.

Whether a student continues at a university still largely is his or her’s decision. The university cannot always instill within students an ideal work ethic, and some students arrive on campus and simply decide higher education is not their fit.

But certain elements remain under the university’s control.

And campus institutions offer a variety of useful services including Supplemental Instruction, tutoring lessons that are beneficial to all students, regardless of race.

However, minority students – particularly in a smaller town such as Mount Pleasant – come into challenges unique to their race and background. There can be quite a cultural jump.

The admissions department utilizes programs such as Detroit Outreach to recruit a more diverse pool of applicants, and offices such as Minority Student Services work toward a more inclusive campus environment, providing various cultural programming.

The office’s efforts to facilitate cultural discussion certainly are laudable, and tutoring programs are a step in the right direction, but more is needed.

Like one university official noted, what can be most stark for minority students is that they are first-generation college students – the jump into higher education can leave some feeling lost.

University offices should hone in on this transition and provide programming specifically to orient these students.

The University of Michigan and Michigan State University have larger-scale transition programs, which could serve as useful templates for CMU.

These programs place students on campus during the summer, allowing them to acclimate during a less stressful time.

For many, attending a university away from home can seem stark, particularly if they come from a family in which attending university is uncommon.

Easing the transition would, more than anything, provide stronger bearings for students who too easily may become lost.

If CMU would like to make higher education more accessible, minority students’ first-generation challenges cannot be overlooked.

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