Campus Diversity on the Rise in U.S. The Ticker 2/28/05

African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American and American Indian students have boosted college enrollment more than 50 percent in the last 10 years, according to the “Minorities in Higher Education Twenty-first Annual Status Report,” released last Monday by the American Council on Education.

The report found that between 1991 and 2001, the college enrollment for minorities rose by nearly 1.5 million to more than 4.3 million students.The annual report is widely recognized as the national source of information on current trends made by minority students and is funded by grants from the Coca-Cola Foundation and the GE Foundation. “Although the number of minority students pursuing higher education degrees has risen over the years, this report shows that much work lies ahead to narrow the large gap that still remains,” said GE Foundation President Bob Corcoran.

Even with the significant increase, minorities were not enrolled at the same rate as white students. Forty percent of African-Americans and 34 percent of Hispanics attended college, compared with 45 percent of whites.“Diversifying the nation’s higher education institutions continues to be one of the most important challenges facing our society,” stated ACE President David Ward in a press release.

A new group included in the annual report represents college students whose race/ethnicity is unknown. When colleges ask applicants about their ethnic background, the form always states that the question is voluntary and that the information will be kept confidential. So why are many students choosing not to check a box? The ACE researchers said they do not know exactly why in 2001 more than 938,000 students declined to identify their race.

Some admissions officers speculate that because of Affirmative Action, maybe some white students think they stand a better chance of acceptance by not marking “White” on their application. Or some Latino students may not feel comfortable when asked about their ethnicity, believing that being Latino is enough. Other theories suggested that some minority students are fearful that common stereotypes may hurt their chances of admission.“Race is an artificial barrier created in America…based in the ‘fear of change’ of conservative right-wing organizations,” stated Arthur Banton, a Graduate History Major at City College. Banton acted as moderator to a follow-up discussion of the first film in a series called “Does Race Matter?” held last Tuesday at the Vertical Campus.

Baruch is a clear example of the shift of college demographics in the last 10 years. For the sixth consecutive year, it has been named the most ethnically diverse institution of higher education in the US by the U.S. News & World Report (2005).During February, the USG is promoting a month-long event called “Celebrate Diversity” – a series of film presentations, discussion panels, dance performances and museum tours intended “to broaden our cultural understanding and bring the Baruch community closer together,” said a brochure distributed by the USG.

However, the increasing trend of students rejecting the idea of race altogether, raises the question whether it should really matter at the time of a college application, a job interview or even inside our college social networks.

Read the article as originally published at Baruch’s The Ticker.