So many concerns
I thought I would discard the cloak of Editorial Board so that I can openly express my concerns regarding the condition of ethnic minorities.
I would first all like to say a personal thank you to all of the administrators that came out to the Town Hall Meeting. We need more student-administration interaction on that level, where the students can be educated on certain topics of concern and hear it straight from the people who are making the decisions. Secondly, I would like to commend the SMU Student Representatives to the Board of Trustees and Student Senate for making strides in bringing important issues to the forefront and seeing that they get addressed by the administration, and then seeing that they are relayed back to the general student body.
* Retention stats?
After the Town Hall meeting in which SMU’s stats on retention were presented along with a brief historical synopsis of minority milestones, I got a chance to really sit down and go over and discuss some of the concerns that I had with the material presented. A wonderful response was written by Byron Sanders and Asad Rahman following the event, which has already highlighted some of my concerns so I will refrain from redundancy. I do not believe though that we can compare SMU to the National Average, which includes both public and private schools. A school like the University of Texas has a huge number of students and thus has a harder time obviously of retaining students because of the inherent distance between the administration and a regular student. Plus the students that go to SMU have already looked at all the factors that go into being a Mustang, and that includes tuition, diversity, education, and all the other substantial factors that go into making the college decision. Most of those that do attend SMU have weighed all the factors and thus are committed to being here for 4 years before they even start class in August. The students that attend larger state schools don’t necessarily have the same level of dedication to the university because one, the financial burden is not near as intense as it is at SMU and two, many students that go to schools like UT do so because they simply want to follow their friends, not because they are solely committed to getting a well rounded education and a subsequent degree. A student would have to be rather affluent in order to attend SMU simply because they wanted to follow their friends there. Furthermore, you cannot compare percentages because populations are so different. Our 20% is totally different from their 20% because of the population size, thus we shouldn’t compare ourselves to this national average which doesn’t take into account all the necessary differences amongst universities throughout our nation. There are numerous confounding variables which go into these national statistics and for that reason they should be viewed with a grain of salt. With all the factors that a student must commit (themselves) to prior enrolling at SMU, the fact that we lose any students at all for any reason outside of the financial situation is horrendous.
Another concern that I had with the figures that were shown was that in all that said SMU still does not have a mark that it sets itself at as far as a specific percentage that it striving for each year in the way of minority retention. This plays perfectly into SMU hands in that it is not necessarily bonded to reach any specific retention goals. That way each year, each year our minority retention rate, whatever it may be for that year is simply an arbitrary figure. For example, let’s say that one year SMU has a retention rate of 77%, the following year it is 73%, the next year it is 82%, and the next year it is 78%. This could happen for four consecutive years and all the administration has to say is well we are hovering around the national average, which for example sake we say is 89%. Well if SMU has a specific percentage, once again lets us 80% as SMU’s goal percentage for minority retention, then the administration has something to shoot for every year. That way if one year we do slip to 77% or 75% then we can honestly say as a school that we aren’t reaching our own set goals which should be more important than trying to be just like every other school, as the national percentage attempts to display. It is a way of holding ourselves accountable each year as opposed to just having the arbitrary percentage, which is in relative proximity to the national average.
* Strategic location of the Multicultural Office- Over the four years that I have attended SMU I have seen the resources provided by the Multicultural Office be wasted and neglected due to the lack of student’s knowledge as to what it truly has to offer. This is directly correlated to the poor visibility of the office due to its atrocious location. It is my opinion as well as the opinion of many of my fellow classmates that the Multicultural Office be moved elsewhere within the student center. The question for me is not where we move the Multicultural Office but when we move the office. It is almost if the school is showing that office and the staff in that office a lack of respect. The three advisors in that office are responsible for every ethnic minority student at SMU but the office is pushed back up into the corner office in the Student Activities Center. They are so far removed it is hard to say that they are even a part of the Student Activities Center. We must recognize the importance of this office in advising minority students and serving as a gathering and social space for those minorities who are lucky enough to hunt down the hidden location of the Multicultural Office. The reality of it is that we have office space for organizations like LCC, Student Foundation, and the Student Trustees Office, which one must walk past before you even come upon the Multicultural Office, making them more easily accessible than the Multicultural Office. Don’t get me wrong; all three of the aforementioned entities are extremely important, just not more important.
Even the Commuter Lounge is more accessible than the Multicultural Office. Many other schools that I have visited, specifically the University of Texas, have large signs and excellent locales for their Multicultural Office because they understand that it is an extremely vital resource for students of ethnic minority descent. It is an important factor in promoting further diversity (specifically minority retention and recruitment) at SMU as well. A couple of years ago there was an unforeseen dramatic decline in the Hispanic population for one year. After having looked at the many factors, which may have played a role in this decrease, one interesting factor stood out and that was the fact that in that particular year there was a void in the multicultural office for the Hispanic advisor. Coincidence? I highly doubt it. Can we really give a valid argument as to why the office is situated where it is and why it is not more visible? I would love to hear a truly adequate argumentation for its placement and why it cannot be moved. In addition, I am also concerned with the whether or not the staff within the office is being compensated adequately which will undoubtedly result in less turnover within the office. This entity is plays an integral role in the amelioration of SMU’s minority issues as well as the development of culturally diverse climate. SMU is constantly looking for ways to take steps to remedy our diversity issue, this I believe is one and the first step to a plausible solution.
* SMU needs a better climate for cultural diversity. In a survey that was constructed by the Student Representatives to the Board of Trustees one of the questions asks whether or not one believes that ethnic diversity enhances the overall experience of college, 95.8% answered that they believed that it did. Having said this it is apparent that students truly believe that ethnic d
iversity is highly important in their college experience and for this reason SMU must work to develop an atmosphere more aware of cultural diversity. In addition, also reported on the survey was a scale that asked students to rate on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a large amount, how much ethnic diversity do you think that SMU displays. The average score for the scale was 4.32, which indicated that students feel that the diversity at SMU is less than adequate. This was also the case when assessing the question of how much effort do you believe that SMU puts forth in enhancing the overall ethnic diversity of its student population. It reported 4.33 which once again shows that student believe that SMU is doing a less than adequate job of enhancing its diversity. Developing an atmosphere which fosters cultural diversity is the remedy to the SMU “white and rich” stigma. Although it is difficult to overcome, creating a better climate will automatically discount that stigma and in time it will fall off completely, but as of right now, the climate of SMU is still very “white and rich.”
* Geographic Recruitment – 87% of minorities come from Texas, this shows that there may be a problem with our recruitment strategies as it pertains to recruiting quality minority students outside of Texas. Once again, it is important that we strive to create a climate, which fosters a diverse culture. One idea suggested for this problem is to utilize our alumni that reside in these other states, and have them serve as liaison of some kind for recruitment. Not only would this aid SMU in their efforts to recruit minority students from other states but it would also encourage more participation from our the alumni of SMU.
* Recruitment of Ethnic Minorities – Another issue that I want to touch on briefly is the issue of minority student recruitment. Although we have chosen to put this issue on the backburner for now as we first battle the issue of retention we must not neglect this very conspicuous dilemma. It is apparent that we must first figure out how we better retain our minority students before we make an aggressive move to recruit them as we will certainly lose them quickly if SMU does not have total control on the retention issue. Yet, you cannot divorce the two because they do overlap a great deal. As was stated in a previous editorial written concerning the lack of visibility of diversity at SMU it was commented that the percentage of African-American and Hispanics enrolling as first years has declined. The numbers are interesting to say the least. They evoke an odd sense of worry when I really think about the decline in the numbers and how these numbers parallel with what I have seen in my four years. Then I think about the future of ethnic minorities at SMU and my worries become even more agonizing. Something must be done and it must be effective. I have already mentioned the placement of the multicultural office and I do believe that this is the first move that should be made which will make a noticeable difference. I do know that next year’s Student Representatives to the Board of Trustees will develop another Town Hall meeting to deal with this issue and hopefully get some questions answered concerning this controversial topic.
* SMU is a university, which suffers from a multitude of problems much like many other universities. It is a school with a non-diverse faculty population, a decrepit recreation center which will be gone in three years, an annually increasing tuition, decreasing minority enrollment, an athletic program still seeking recovery from the death penalty, a community of students heavily associated with Greekdom, and a community climate which needs improvement as far as its cultural diversity and awareness is concerned. All of these things are concerns of the university and discussion is required for each, yet just within the minority issue there is so much more to be said and so many more angles to be taken when discussing the struggles: minority faculty and staff, the greek system and its interesting dynamic with diversity, non-diverse student organizations, etc. I know that we do not live in an ideal world where everything is fair and proportionate but we should strive to create an environment, which we can all coexist comfortably. I truly cherish my four years at SMU. It has taught me a great deal both in the classroom setting and outside of it. The people I have met are wonderful and the friendships that I have cannot be replaced. I consider myself truly blessed to have experienced everything that I have here and as a new alum I simply want to see SMU continue to strive for excellence in all arenas. The people are here and the potential is exponential. An old adage says that we should never be satisfied with where we are but we can be satisfied with what we have. SMU must dedicate itself to persistent endeavors to progress. I pray for the continual improvement of SMU socially, academically, and athletically.
