“It allowed me to learn more, become comfortable with campus and get involved in campus organizations,” says Rosalind Welch, a senior at UK who’s headed to graduate school in the fall. “I don’t think I would have been able to jump into campus headfirst.”
University president Lee Todd has put together a task force to search for ways to attract more minority students, including increasing the number of admissions officials to help promote diversity at the state’s largest school.
The University of Louisville has also added programs like the Society of Porter Scholars and the Association of Black Students.
Many minority students say the programs help acclimate them to what they perceive as the predominantly White social and academic atmosphere at the university.
“I know how difficult it is to get through school,” says Turkessa Priest, a senior at Louisville who founded the Black Student Nurses Association. “What I’ve noticed is Black students have special needs and other things going on outside of school hindering them from progressing.”
According to the study, only 33.6 percent of minority students who enrolled at state universities in 1998 had graduated by 2004. The number for Black students at Louisville is even lower — only 24 percent of those who enrolled in 1998 graduated by 2004.
Ed Laster, director of the Multicultural Academic Enrichment Program at Louisville, says the school needs to make sure it doesn’t forget about its minority students once it gets them in the classroom.
“The university hasn’t set the world on fire for its retention and graduation rates,” Laster says.
— Associated Press
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
