Michigan State University Extension
Diversity and Pluralism - 02150031
12/95/
ERIC TITLE NUMBER: ED298991 AUTHOR: Harris, Zelema
TITLE: Institutional Commitment to Cultural Diversity.
YEAR PUBLISHED: 1988
NOTE: 11 p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (Chicago,
IL, March 8, 1988).
ABSTRACT: In 1987, one-third of the kindergarten students in
the United States were minority. These students will be the
pool from which institutions of higher education will draw
their college freshmen in the year 2000. The impact of this
increase in cultural and ethnic diversity will be pervasive,
especially with respect to broadening European-oriented
curricula to make them more inclusive of other cultures. The
changes that the colleges will face must be approached
systematically. Institutional commitment to ethnic and
cultural diversity from the executive level must be in place
before progress can be achieved. This commitment must be
reflected in recruitment and retention efforts to increase
the number of minority and female faculty members, in
activities to educate faculty members who are insensitive to
minorities and non-traditional students, and in efforts to
involve minority faculty members in guiding institutional
responses to diversity. Student recruitment and retention
efforts must focus on reversing the trend toward declining
rates of participation of minority students in higher
education; identifying barriers to transfer and academic
success; and developing academic and personal support
systems to ensure achievement. Black colleges, which provide
many role models for students, promote high expectations,
and foster student/teacher interaction, have played an
important role in educating black youth, awarding an
estimated 40% of all of the degrees earned by black
students. The predominantly white colleges that have been
successful in graduating minority students share the views
that minority achievement is a preparation issue rather than
a racial issue, that the campus environment is critical, and
that the underrepresentation of minorities within the
faculty needs attention. All colleges prepare themselves for
the future if they begin to embrace the changing student
population now. (AJL)
KEY DESCRIPTORS: Academic-Achievement; Black-Colleges; Black
Students; Change-Strategies; Curriculum-Development;
Educational-Responsibility; Enrollment-Projections; Futures
of-Society; Higher-Education; Population-Trends; Student
Needs; Student-Recruitment
KEY DESCRIPTORS: *Affirmative-Action; *College-Students;
*Cultural-Pluralism; *Educational-Change; *Minority-Groups;
*School-Demography
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