Minority enrollment increases
by Clayton Woullard
The Metropolitan.
 Kristin
Skvorc / The Metropolitan
UCD student Abeir Salaymeh, center, chats with UCD students Alex Mayster,
right, and Ruba Wahdan, left at the flagpole Nov. 15. Minority enrollment
has increased on campus and by 4.4 percent at Metro.
Metro’s minority enrollment has jumped since last year, boosting
the college’s status as having more minority students than any college
in the state.
According to recent statistics provided by Metro’s Office of Institutional
Research, enrollment as of the beginning of this semester of Metro students
classified as ethnic minorities has increased from 4,713 students to 4,922
students, or 4.4 percent, over last Fall semester. This number correlates
with the overall increase in enrollment at Metro, which increased from
20,230 students to 20,791, or 2.8 percent.
Minority enrollment, and overall enrollment at the college has gradually
increased over the past four years with the largest spike between Fall
2002 and Fall 2003 when it jumped from 4,401 to 4,713, or 7.1 percent.
Metro Director of Admissions Bill Hathaway-Clark said while Metro does
not have the highest percentage of ethnic minorities, it has the highest
number of students of color on campus. He said other colleges in the state,
like Adams State College, have a higher percentage of minority enrollment
because they have much fewer students overall.
“Clearly, the total number of students have increased over time
and what we wanted to have happen is that the students of color increase
overall as the number of students increase,” Hathaway-Clark said.
Metro Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost Joan Foster credits
the continuous increase to the school’s departments and academic
opportunities.
“I think that we have some very strong programs for all students,”
Foster said. “I think there is good leadership in clubs and departments
like African-American Studies and Chicano Studies and Native American
Studies.” She said the increase in minority enrollment is beneficial
and important because it reflects the increasing diversity in society,
and it makes Metro more appealing.
“The more diverse the institution becomes, the more attractive
it becomes to all groups of students,” Foster said. “Success
breeds success.”
The number of minority students graduating has also increased since last
fall by 3.8 percent, as opposed to a 5.9 percent decrease from Fall 2001
to Fall 2002. But minorities only made up 19.3 percent of students graduating
in the last academic year, whereas minorities made up 20.1 percent of
students graduating in the 2001-02 school year.
Hathaway-Clark said while it’s good that minority enrollment is
up, that doesn’t mean Metro should just sit back and relax.
“We could be doing a better job,” he said. “We want
to continue to keep the word out there that we are a place where students
of color feel comfortable, feel welcome. I think there are a number of
things we’re trying to make sure happens.”
Ethnicities included as ethnic minorities in the college census are American
Indian, Asian, Black and Hispanic. Whites, which make up 69.5 percent
of the student population, and international students, which make up 0.9
percent, are not included as ethnic minorities.
Another category not included is “All Others,” which make
up 6 percent, a group the college appeals to because they could alter
minority enrollment numbers, even if only slightly. Hathaway-Clark said
the 6 percent are students who either did not select an ethnicity or selected
“Other” when registering. He said Admissions will send out
letters to those students to ask them if they would choose an ethnicity
or remain as “Other.”
“If we keep up this effort over several years, we will be able
to get a better sense of the student body or a better identification of
their ethnicities,” Hathaway-Clark said.
Hispanics made up the largest part of the increase in minority enrollment,
going from 2,556 students in Fall 2003 to 2,739 in Fall 2004, or by 7.2
percent.
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs David Conde, said this
is positive because it brings Metro closer to becoming a Hispanic Serving
Institution, which requires that a college have 25 percent Hispanic enrollment.
Metro is about halfway there with Hispanics making up 13.2 percent of
the student population.
Conde said if Metro were to become a Hispanic Serving Institution, the
college would be open to receiving Title V grants, which are less competitive
than Title III grants, for which Metro applies and competes. The federal
money helps the college fund development projects, for example, improving
the skills of part-time faculty and building computer labs. Conde said
competition for Title III funds is tough and the college can only apply
at certain times. Under Title V, he said, those restrictions would be
removed, and Metro would be guaranteed the funds almost every time they
apply.
“It may not be more money, but it’d be more secure,”
Conde said. “We’d qualify for more consistent funding.”
Because historically the federal government has provided funds for historic
black colleges and universities which have struggled in the past century,
Conde said it provided the same opportunity for schools with high Hispanic
enrollment.
Justice Jackson, Metro student and president of the campus-wide Black
Student Alliance, said while enrollment of black students has increased
over the past four years, not enough blacks are going into higher education
and staying there.
“I just think that the majority of black youth, being in school
for four years ... just isn’t a tangible reality for black youth,”
Jackson said. “The reality that’s pushed is athletics and
entertainment and not enough about academic achievement.” Jackson
said the emphasis on recruiting black students needs to be on staying
in college, not only on just attending.
Hathaway-Clark said Metro is trying to recruit minority students, one
way being through Metro student ambassadors, who work at high schools
in the Denver Public School system, which have large minority student
populations, encouraging students to go on to college and helping them
in whatever way they need.
“We do want to do more,” he said. “It’s a major
thrust of our admissions office to recruit more students of color, especially
from the public school system.”
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