Annual
college minority report heavily criticized
By
Mike Sundberg
On-line Forty-Niner
This
month the American Council on Education
released its Minorities in Higher Education
Annual Status Report. The report found that
the amount of minority students in colleges
across America has doubled since 1981, with
the number of minority high school graduates
between the ages of 18 and 24 attending
U.S. colleges growing by almost 2.5 million.
Various media reported on these findings.
Yet
the release of this report is not without
criticism. According to James Manseau Sauceda,
director of the Multicultural Center at
Cal State Long Beach, the media may have
seriously misinterpreted this report. Sauceda
explains that by reading reports such as
these, people are convinced that the nation
is making significant progress in diversifying
its college campuses.
"The
headlines for stories about reports such
as these are misleading," said Sauceda,
referring to a recent CNN report.
At
CSULB, a school considered to have a diverse
student population, current Multicultural
Center reports have found that the population
of African-Americans is roughly 5. 8 percent,
while Asian-Americans make up 15.5 percent
of the population, Mexican-Americans --
15.6 percent, and American Indians only
0.5 percent. According to Sauceda, these
are unacceptably small percentages given
the diversity of Southern California itself.
In
Long Beach, at least 60 languages are spoken,
and there are nearly 40 different cultures.
In fact, according to the Multicultural
Center, almost 40 percent of students entering
schools in this city must be taught English
as a second language.
"I
think that the percent of African-American
students seems really small, and that you
would think there would be more here at
CSULB," said Qwente Bryant, a sophomore
biochemistry major.
Other
students are less surprised by these numbers.
"When
you consider reports like these you have
to remember they are only talking about
minority students that have graduated from
high school, and many of them aren't graduating,"
said John Kitahara, a junior communications
major, upon reading the CNN report. "Minorities
here at CSULB are definitely still underrepresented."
Sauceda
believes that there is a reason that the
media gives misleading reports such as these.
"Issues
are kept under the rug by stories like this
and they give a false presumption about
the level of progress [that is occurring],"
he said. "I believe that we need to
admit that we don't have an accurate picture
of the history [of different cultures at
our schools.]"
In
order to help people to understand different
cultures and different viewpoints, the Multicultural
Center will hold its annual Multicultural
Festival from Nov. 17 through the 24. The
center is currently looking to create partnerships
with students and clubs on campus to aid
in the festival.
"Everyone
can find their place here in the Multicultural
Center," Sauceda said.
|
