Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / Feb. 4, 1991, edition 1 / Page 7
Part of Meredith College Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Part One of a series presented during Black History IVIonth Race Relations on Gott^ Campuses by Mary Beth Owen "Almost 30 years after the Civil Rights movement placed top pri ority for higher education on im proving race relations, ugly racist incidents, student isolation, and insensitivity continue to plague colleges and universities across the country." iRacial Issues on Campus: How Students View Them, Report by the Southern Regional Education Board, 1990) These are the types of prob lems faced by minority students who attend predominantly white colleges. Several. important questions demand attention con cerning this issue: Why, after implementing many different strategies to in crease minority participation on college campuses, has there been so little improvement’ What effective strategies can be employed to increase and encourage minority participation in higher education? Why, 30 years after the Qvil Rights movement began and af ter some 20 years since significant desegregation of colleges and universities began, are the issues and problems of minority students still so prevalent What can or will higher edu cation facilities do to address or eliminate the problems on cam pus faced by students who are in the racial minority? Frequently, administrative strategies and programs designed to deal with and eliminate these types of problems go astray. They seem to fail because they are developed or implemented with out the consideration of how the students, those directly affected by the problem, view and un derstand the problem. Students' perceptions about the problem of minority participation in higher education can provide additional insight and may suggest new avenues of inquiry that could reduce racial incidents and racist practices on America’s campuses. A recent survey by the South ern Regional Education Board survey attempts to answer the questions, “How do students’ perceptions, attitudes, and opin ions about race and racism affea their interaction with one another and with their institutioa^ and “What are we doing to encourage or discourage minority participa tion—^perhaps without even be ing aware of it’” Based on average responses of all students, the typical survey participant was between 19 and 22 years of age, was attending college full-time, self-reported a GPA in the 3-0 range, and fi nanced his or her education through a cornbination of loans, grants and scholarships. The responses to the survey indicate that though colleges and universities of historically white student bodies appear to have addressed issues of discrimina tory' practices, many discrepan cies in this attempts remain. Although this survey was given to students attending much larger campuses than Meredith, the survey can be used as a tool for examining radal issues here. How many black students attend Meredith College? How many black professors leach here? How many administrative staff mem bers help set ix)licies for the campus? You can count the number of black students on both hands without using all the digits and there are as many black professors and administrators as there were when the college opened. Assuming that a racial imbal ance exists, can the student body make an impaa on this imbal- ance at Meredith? Survey comments from black students attending predominantly white schools: 52% said they would choose the same school if they had to nuke the choice again 31% felt they are “a real part of the school spirit here* Only 28% found that admissions counselors had described accurately the types of experiences they had encoun tered. 43% agreed that "the adnunistration on this campus makes a genuine effort to recruit black students.” 32% agreed that ‘the administration has made a special effort to help black students belong.” Barely 20% agreed that institutions m&ke a sincere effort to recruit and retain black faculty members and ad ministrators. Merely 23% agreed that counseling and advising services are especially sen sitive to the needs of black students. Nearly 95% said more consider- atkin should be ^ven to black student interests. 40% agreed that the campus is "as integrated as students ^^^t it to be” Less than 40% agreed that white students play an active role in helping black students adjust to the campus. Student Opinion: Racial Balance at Meredith Please complete this survey and put it in the Herald drop box beside the Cate Center box o^ce window on or before Friday, February 8,1991. Results will be tabulated and printed in the February 11 issue of the Herald. Please cirde your answers. Your dassification: Fr So Jr Sr Your race: Black (African-American) White Other 1. Have you ever been treated unfairiy because of your race? Yes No Don’t know At Meredith? Yes No Don’t know 2. Have you ever been in a situation where you were the radal minority? Yes No Don’t know At Meredith? Yes No Don’t know If yes, did you feel uncomfoitable, alienated, or threatened? Yes No Don’t know 3. Is understanding racial issues important to you? Yes No Don’t know Why or why not? 4. Do you believe that there are racial tensions on this campus? Yes No Don’t know Why or why not? 5. Do you believe that recruiting black and other minority students should be emphasized at Meredith? Yes No Don’t know Why or why not’ 6. Do you believe that recruiting black and other minority professors should be emphasized at Meredith? Yes No Don’t know Why or why not? 7. Do you believe that recruiting black administrators should be emphasized at Meredith? Yes No Don’t know Why or ^y not? 8. Do you believe that the number of courses in black history offered at Meredith is adequate? Yes No Don’t know Why or ^y not’ 9. Do you believe that a course in black history shouki be required of Meredith College graduates? Yes No Don’t know Why or why not’ 10. Do you believe that there is a racial imbalance at Meredith’ Yes No Don't know 11. If you answered yes to Question 10, do you be lieve diat the racial imbalance causes any problems at Meredith? Yes No Don’t know If yes, can you offer any suggestions to rectify the problem? 12. Do you believe that minority students attending Meredith have different needs ^m other students? Yes No Don’t know If yes, what do you believe those needs are? 13.D0 you believe that Meredith meets the needs of its minority students? Yes No Don't know Why or why not’ 14. Would you participate in activities designed to increase the minority student and staff population at Meredith College? Yes No Don’t know Thank you for your participation. February 4, 1992 Page 7
Meredith College Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 4, 1991, edition 1
7
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75