Town hall hits minority retention

Junior Jerrod Harrell has seen hordes of incoming first-year students during his four years at SMU. As a campus tour guide and overnight host for prospective students, he has seen them gaze at Dallas Hall, walking reluctantly with their parents or eagerly asking questions about the campus. In his four years, he has also seen that the majority of those students are white.

“I think SMU really wants minority students, but again, a lot of people are thrown off,” said Harrell, a senior corporate communications and public affairs major. “You want to go to a school where there are people like you.”

With more emphasis placed on having a diverse student body, both private and public universities are employing various methods to attract and enroll more minority students.

A call to action

Senior admissions counselor Rod Jackson created Students Taking Action Recruiting Students (STARS) last spring to help increase minority enrollment at SMU through active recruiting.

“There are several positive groups and organizations on campus that do a lot of talking, but talking isn’t going to get students here,” Jackson said.

The program identifies prospective minority students early in conjunction with the Department of Multicultural Student Affairs. Minority student volunteers contact high schoolers during the spring, soon after they receive their acceptance letters.

“We try to [let] them know that there are other minority students here that are doing well on campus and that actually enjoy it,” Jackson said.

The program focuses on the Dallas Independent School District, although it addresses students from across the nation. The DISD minority population totals 93 percent, so targeting the district would increase the chances of recruiting and enrolling minorities at SMU.

Local outreach is an advantage because it allows for face-to-face interaction. Both volunteers and local students attend panel discussions and college fairs where students can sign up for information and talk to admissions counselors.

The Department of Multicultural Student Affairs has also developed a mentoring program in addition to helping STARS. Incoming students will be matched with a minority alumnus, student, faculty or staff member to serve as a mentor throughout their first year. Students are invited to join the program during the fall.

Jennifer Jones, the director of Multicultural Student Affairs, said that brochures are being made and mentors are training for the first minority orientation session in August.

Public universities such as Texas A&M are also employing similar methods.

Deputy Director of University Relations at Texas A & M Lene Stephenson said that the recruiting staff is trying to let minority students know that they are welcome through aggressive recruitment.

Stephenson’s staff goes to major metropolitan areas around the state or wherever there are large concentrations of minorities. Receptions and meetings are held and counselors also work through local churches to identify and recruit students as well, he said.

“A lot of recruiting is done through word of mouth and [minority students] intend to tell their friends back home,” Stephenson said.

A different set of rules

Because SMU is a private university, there aren’t any federal or state guidelines that must be followed concerning minority recruitment and enrollment.

It falls on the shoulders of the private university, rather than public.

“It is something we address, but it is not anything that is mandated,” Jackson said.

On the other hand, state schools such as Texas A&M are affected by the Hopwood decision.

In 1992, Cheryl Hopwood and other white students claimed reverse discrimination and sued the University of Texas Law School. They felt that they were denied admission because of the school’s preference for minority students.

Although the courts found that the plaintiffs would not have been accepted based on their overall portfolio, their complaint led to the abolishment of affirmative action in the Texas public university system in 1996. Race and ethnicity could no longer be a factor in admissions or financial aid considerations.

“We had a real downturn as a consequence of the Hopwood decision, but things are looking up,” Stephenson said.

Instead, automatic admission was introduced. If a high school senior graduates within the top ten percent of his class, he is granted automatic admission into the Texas public university system.

The courts also gave schools a list of criteria to follow when considering prospective students. This includes socioeconomic factors, such as location, family income and bilingual skills, which target characteristics of minority students but doesn’t use race directly.

Since affirmative action was abolished in some states, various public universities have had to find other methods to increase minority enrollment.

For example, the University of California decided to change its admission policy to a comprehensive review. It gives greater weight to students who have had to overcome hardships like coming from a low-income home.

Institutions can try to increase minority enrollment through other avenues, but affirmative action is unmatched in representing minority groups, said Gary Engelgau, assistant provost for enrollment at Texas A&M.

The University of Michigan is currently fighting two lawsuits to uphold its affirmative action policies.

The almighty dollar

Because private institutions are much pricier than the public ones, Jackson said that the majority of inquiries and concerns from minorities are about financial aid and not just the diversity of the campus.

“For the most part, they have an idea of what to expect before they get here” Jackson said. “Some of them may even get here and find out that this is much different then what they expected.”

Associate Provost for Educational Programs Tom Tunks said that the university is trying to find ways to attract minority students in a legal way.

The university is looking into the prospect of outside foundations that would want to establish scholarships. Because the university cannot provide scholarships solely based on race and ethnicity, possible scholarships would be attractive to minority students but not limited to them.

Harrell said that SMU does provide good financial aid packages, but the stereotype that only rich white people attend still exists.

“It might make them feel uncomfortable,” he said. “You don’t want to feel like ‘Buffy’ and ‘Mitzy’ are going on their jet and you can’t afford Taco Bell.”