Racial Underrepresentation Incites Anguish

By Anayo Awuzie

Imagine being a freshman in college on the first day of class. After all the stress of applying and being accepted, taking out last minute loans to pay for housing and books, and kissing mom and dad goodbye, you have finally made it. You look at your class schedule and begin to head to your first class. You open the door and all of the white students present all look back at your black face.

"Orientation was the worst," said junior Maxwell Walter, of his experience as a freshman. "Me and one other kid who was also getting recruited, we hung out throughout almost the entirety of orientation. I couldn't relate to anybody else. I mean, obviously I was one of the only minorities at my orientation."

In the 2010-2011 school year there were 5,107 enrolled students. Out of that number, about 4 percent of the students were African-American, a mere 212 enrolled students. Similar schools like St. Mary's (2996 enrolled; 2 percent African-American) and Loyola Marymount (6069 enrolled; 6 percent African-American) show similar numbers.

Students like Walter are not the only ones experiencing this lack of diversity. It is a universal reality that African-American students enroll in college at a much lower rate than white students. The latest statistic provided by the National Center for Education shows that white students are 69 percent of the nationwide enrollment in college while African-American students make up only 14 percent.

AJ Howell-Williams, associate director of Undergraduate Admission, specifically handles the applications of underrepresented students. He says that Admissions is doing the best they can, but there are other factors that affect the low enrollment numbers. African-American students are not incapable, they just have other ideas such as being "music producers or rappers," he said.

"These are the things I was actually seeing in (college) applications that more than anything pissed me off because I know universities out there are looking for strong candidates; the numbers of those students are dwindling," said Howell-Williams. "To tell you the truth I got to a point of frustration. Not with what we as admissions counselors or the admissions community are doing in America, but really being frustrated with the lack of motivation that I was seeing within the African-American community. The university is doing all they can to diversify the student body, but what I feel is happening with the African-American community is that our youngsters lost themselves within the media and the media definition of 'blackness.'"

Aside from addressing low student enrollment, another component noticeably missing on campus is African-American faculty and staff. In 2010-2011, out of 461 full-time faculty members, only nine were of African-American descent.
Professor Regina Davis-Sowers, sociology professor, is one of the nine faculty members, and almost did not have her tenure renewed in 2009. She said that it is a sad reality for African-American faculty, and due to their low visibility, she sometimes wonders if they really exist.

"I wonder what the students are getting here to not have faculty that are their race or ethnicity," said Lester Deanes, Assistant Dean for Student Life and council member for the Committee of Inclusive Excellence, "Not that you need that but I think it's important to see people in positions of authority to look up to who are coming from a background similar to yours."

"This is why I wanted to be the co-chair of Igwe because we can show that support and community and do our job to reach out," said Amechi Okechukwu, alumnus and former Igwebuike co-chair, "We do need help from administration, just to reach out to African-Americans more and then help from the student body to make sure this is a socially conscious campus and an inviting place to all people of all races so that certain events don't detract from people wanting to go here."

The low African-American population can be attributed to many different reasons. Either way, for Walter, he will not be contributing to a lower African-American percentage rate any time soon.

"You know, I never thought demographics would be a big deal just because where I grew up there was a very small African-American population," said Walter. "As a freshman, groups like Igwe made me feel comfortable and Unity, people say it's cliquey but I think I needed that. I feel a lot better about it now."

Contact Anayo Awuzie at aawuzie@scu.edu.