Lanthorn.com
Last updated Monday, September 08, 2008 at 10:49 AM
Incoming class suffers drop in diversity, concerns officials
Kyle Meinke
9/6/2008
Minority enrollment among incoming freshmen at Grand Valley State University dipped 29.6 percent this year, despite the school admitting its largest class in history.
GVSU enrolled 387 Asian, African American, Hispanic and American Indian students this year, down from the 550 admitted last year, according to records released by Institutional Analysis. Minorities comprise 9.8 percent of the freshman class, which falls short of the 15 percent reached the past two years.
Whites make up 89 percent of this year's incoming freshman, while 34 students did not report their ethnicity.
"Minority enrollment is of the highest importance to Grand Valley, and this trend is of great concern," said Lynn Blue, vice provost and dean of Academic Services. "A great deal of study will go into this."
The dip does not come as a surprise, Blue said.
Since the recruiting cycle began last August, GVSU was receiving fewer applications from minority students, though exact figures were not available as of press time.
"We knew way back in January we would be facing a downturn," Blue said. "Now that we can see the numbers, we'll try to figure out where the holes are and if there are remedies to enhance our ability to generate minority."
GVSU is not alone, she added. Maintaining minority enrollment is becoming a statewide problem because the competition is now greater for the pool of minority students looking to attend Michigan universities.
Class statistics and ethnic breakdowns are not yet available for most other Michigan schools, but more should be known in the coming weeks.
Blue and other university officials point to Proposal 2, a 2006 state law that banned race- and gender-based preference programs, as an obstacle in minority recruiting.
"This is the first class post-Proposal 2, and there is a new learning curve for us," said Jodi Chycinski, GVSU director of admissions. "Scholarships have always been a big recruiting tool, but we can't offer them anymore like we have in the past. We now have to rework the opportunities we provide."
Awards, like the Bert Price Minority Scholarship, are no longer offered, which makes it more difficult to recruit minority students.
Scholarship opportunities are still available, but instead of targeting specific minorities they now reach out to students from metropolitan regions such as Chicago, Detroit, Pontiac and now Grand Rapids. The urban scholarship program offers $3,000 per year to all students who graduate from targeted schools in those areas.
Other recruitment methods -- like bus tours, targeted mailings and marketing -- are also focusing on minority recruiting.
But the inability to directly offer minorities financial aid and scholarships hinders GVSU's efforts to diversify, officials said.
"Proposal 2 is a bit disappointing, but it's the reality," Chycinski said. "The Admissions Office must now find new ways to go about its business because this university really values diversity. There have been changes to the tools available to us for minority recruiting, but we can't use that as an excuse."
Despite admitting a class almost 90 percent white, the overall minority population at GVSU decreased only slightly this year, from 11.9 percent to 11.6 percent. There will be a net loss of only 23 minority students this year.
Still, the significant drop in the diversity of this year's freshmen concerns university officials.
"Now that we have fall enrollment figures in hand and we can analyze them, we should have new information to feed our planning," Blue said. "Now we can do some deeper analysis to identify soft spots in recruiting."
A recruiting team of about 12 is working to execute plans that attract various demographics to campus, and minority and international student enrollment is "high priority," Blue added.
Cortney Rush, president of the Black Student Union, said she believes diversity has improved since she arrived on campus in 2005, but it remains "scarce."
"It's not a good feeling to enter a classroom and be the only (minority)," she said. "I think Grand Valley needs to provide more multicultural programming."
BSU is scheduled to host its first monthly roundtable discussion "Real Talk" on Sept. 18, which will provide a forum to discuss minority and race issues on campus, Rush said.
"It's one thing to complain about diversity, but another thing to provide a solution," she added.
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Comments:
16 comments
Brown : 7/15/2009
Wow
These comments I see here show the lack of understanding of the situation. As a white male from a suburban background, it's easy to look at your own situation and only look at the world from that lense. Somehow, "minorities are stealing from me." What gets ignored is much deeper, but if we oversimplify it then we can say that "Affirmative Action is wrong." It's not that simple, and AA is not perfect, but it's an acknowledgment that the discrimination and the effects of discrimination still exist. Look at the schools prep school ethnic composition and look at the misappropriated resources - wealthy, predominantly white schools have much more resources and receive better educational treatment than nonwhite schools. Even look at the health impact of being a minority in the U.S. Life expectancies are lower, there are health problems that are rampant only in minority communities (hypertension among African Americans, for example), and these things are arguably caused by the minority experience to some degree. Not to mention, finally, that homogenous groups breed ignorance. Diversity is beneficial to everybody, so if underprivileged groups need different consideration to be given a fair shot, it should be done - for the benefit of the ENTIRE UNIVERSITY. Peace.
Luis Salazar : 9/17/2008
School
Does anyone in their right mind think the Africanos over at Detroit Mercy lose sleep over the scarcity of white students enrolled at Detroit Mercy? I didn't think so. So what TF is the big deal here?
oops, the brainwashing wore off : 9/17/2008
"tragic" drop in duh-versity
Per Brother 'Jamal': "The white get whiter. This is crazy. Isn't Grand Valley already white enough and conservative enough?" --my honest answer: probably not, if you're still there, "bro". Have you considered moving to Detroit? It might be more your speed. But this is still encouraging news. I'd now consider sending my kids to GV, if I had any.
Robert : 9/17/2008
Stop Racism
Lynn Blue should be fired. Her concern should be to create a student body based upon relevant credentials, with no concern at all for irrelevant things like race or gender. As far as the "great deal of study" that will be done, may I suggest Why Race Matters by Michael Levin? He will clearly and directly answer all her perplexing questions. This 30 percent dip proves just how bad the anti white discrimination is at this school. I hope these statistics end up biting them in the behind with a class action discrimination lawsuit. To favor one by race means you are disadvantaging another by race. Is discrimination ok so long as it is directed towards whites? Lynn Blue is a racist plain and simple. As Supreme Court Justice Roberts wrote "The way to stop discrimination by race is to stop discriminating by race".
QuestionDiversity : 9/17/2008
Boo Hoo
Why should it come as any surprise that the second minorities stop getting preferential treatment that they just can't compete? The logic that unless one gets an unfair advantage, he is being discriminated against. I suppose that it's all part of the entitlement mentality that non-whites have become accustomed to and that whites have had to pay for against their will with their tax dollars. Affirmative action is for losers.
Update : 9/17/2008
Peter
Historical party slogans past double plus ungood rewrite at once. 1. Ignorance is Strength rewrite to: 1. Diversity is Strength 2. Freedom is Slavery rewrite to: Socialism is Freedom. 3. All Men are Equal. rewrite to: 3. White is bad. All who fail to comply will be killed.
Martin from Europe : 9/17/2008
Orwellian Absurdistan
I thought that university is to educate able, intelligent people. But in this ridiculous, grotesque country called U.S.A., education obviously doesn't matter. The most important thing is "diversity". Hey, what about enrolling some mentally retarded inmates from a madhouse? Can't they contribute a lot to the diversity of views and opinions at your university?
Anon : 9/16/2008
One Step Closer to Segregation
[sarcasm] We all saw this coming. You saw it, I saw it. What disturbs me is that most students? You know, the angry ones that point at the minorities for not getting any scholarship money? They're smiling. They could care less for their fellow man, because we learn early on to blame someone else. Why not blame the underprivilidged? Historically, it's what we've done. Why not do it now? And when the blamers get what they want, we're all hurt in the end. [/endsarcasm]
Kyle : 9/11/2008
Trend is unknown
As the article says, GVSU was the first in the state to release its class statistics. More will be known in the coming weeks.
Michelle : 9/11/2008
Is this just a regional trend?
How does this dip in diversity compare to enrollment at other MI universities or other DII schools in the U.S.?
Laura : 9/10/2008
What is Diverse?
I think it's important to note that diversity is not just about the color of someone's skin. I mean, we spend all this time touting the fact that skin color doesn't matter - then why are we promoting it or lack thereof here?? To me, this was a very different cultural atmosphere from the out-of-state, affluent major metropolitan suburb I came from. And it was great. I could have gone to an in-state school and had the very same experience as my college prep high school. There may have been more blacks or Hispanics or Asians, but would I have necessarily hung out with them and diversified? No, I would have been friends with all my same white friends from high school, who came from the exact same background as me. At least at GVSU I got to appreciate a completely different culture.
GVSU through and through : 9/10/2008
Whats the big deal
I love GVSU, and I love what this school provides. When I came here, I knew I wasn't going to get the cultural experience I would have at another school. If this issue is just dawning on people, then they haven't been looking close enough. Even when minority enrollment was "up," classes were still 85% white. what, really, is the difference between 85 and 90%? All I am saying is that this is not a big deal. GVSU has never been diverse, and I doubt it'll get any better in the years to come. So settle down.
Angry Senior : 9/10/2008
No surprise
I've been here for 4 years, and this is how far we've come: we've digressed. When I arrived on campus, the campus was a sea of white. As a white business major, I found this disturbing because when I enter the business world someday I am going to have to be well-versed in dealing with people from many backgrounds. I will not get that training at GVSU. Of course, this comes as little surprise. GVSU isn't attracting minorities, and minorites aren't attracted to come here. SO now there's a problem. At least somebody is paying attention now.
2000 CSIS grad : 9/9/2008
about time
Dont know how many scholarships I was rejected from because I'm a while male. Never mind my father lost his job during my senior year of high school and thus made paying for college that much tougher. Eight years after graduating, I'm still paying off student loans. Glad to see the administration being forced to equal footing considering how they came down on the Campus Republicans for having an affirmative action based bake sale a few years ago to call attention to this very issue. PS my kids will go to Ferris or SVSU
Angry Alum : 9/9/2008
Shame
As a recent graduate of GV (April 2008) and an active member in the Multicultural Organization CLOUD NINE, I find this VERY disappointing. The non-White population at GV is already ridiculously low and for the numbers to drop by any amount is a huge lose. There needs to be a solution and I hope the campus community, especially the student population finds this information as disappointing as I do. I guess Ward Connerly has succeeded in doing what he set out to do in Michigan.
Jamal : 9/8/2008
Ridiculous
The white get whiter. This is crazy. Isn't Grand Valley already white enough and conservative enough? They need to do something about this before GVSU becomes ALL white. Whatever happened to a liberal education? Isn't cultural diversity and new ideas part of that? Without diversity, GVSU will become culturally boring.
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