Diversity issues surface in A-Senate
Advocates of diversity are fighting for its existence at CMU.
In the midst of pending budget cuts, Robert Newby presented some sobering statistics to the Academic Senate Tuesday.
The findings were assembled by the Multicultural and Diversity Education Council in January. In the finding, 44 percent of minorities said there was a good deal of racial tension on campus and 18 percent said they have been treated worse on campus because of their race or ethnicity.
- 69% retention rate of African American Students
- 18% students who report being treated worse due to their race
- 44.3% of students agree that there is a good deal of racial tension on campus
* source: Multicultural & Diversity Education’s A-Senate presentation, 1-30-04
“If diversity is considered marginal, it will be cut, and given the climate of the country right now it’s not something I feel should be lost,” said Newby, sociology, anthropology and social work professor.
Newby said admissions are a major concern; for every five Hispanic students admitted, only one enrolls at Central, and one out of every 3.75 black students enrolls as well.
“Diversity is a big part of the accreditation process,” Newby said. “For a while, we were making progress.”
The report mentions minority retention rates for both faculty and students.
Freshman-to-sophomore retention rates are lowest among black students, with 69 percent staying enrolled. Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanics were retained at 81 percent and the rate for whites is 78 percent.
“All of us accepted diversity as a value but few of us look at behavior in classrooms to see how it affects the climate,” said Ulana Klymyshyn, multicultural education center director.
The council was formed about nine years ago because nothing had been put in place to monitor diversity in academics, Newby said.
“Diversity could become expedient under budget cuts and we’re concerned that doesn’t happen,” he said.
A-Senate chairman Bob Lee said the senate can help reverse negative diversity trends.
“When we have a field hockey issue versus other things like diversity, we need to make sure our voice is heard,” Lee said.
Lee, human environmental studies professor, said academics are competing with athletics for limited resources.
“It will be interesting next year to see if athletics took as big a cut as academics,” he said. “Why are they putting in a football field that is not suitable for field hockey? We can remain a Division I-A school without football.”
Central cannot cut any more sports without dropping out of Division I-A because the university is already at the NCAA minimum of 16 sports.
Provost and Executive Vice President Tom Storch will make the final budget recommendation to University President Michael Rao next week. The Senior Staff Budget Advisory Group will release their information in late May.
