This document discusses minority recruitment and enrollment at predominantly white institutions. It begins by defining predominantly white institutions as those mainly comprising white students with few students from other races. It then discusses the legal aspects of diversity in higher education, including the 1978 Supreme Court case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, which allowed universities to give modest preference to minority students. This increased minority enrollment at predominantly white institutions. The document also discusses techniques for improving minority recruitment, such as considering ethnic and cultural factors in communication and using public relations to promote diversity. It concludes that innovative programming and policies are needed to assist minority students in dealing with academic and social challenges.
1. STUDENTS NAME :
REGISTRATION NUMBER:
SCHOOL :
FACULTY :
COURSE TITLE :
DATE :
HOW MINORITY RECRUITMENT AND ENROLLMENT IS
EFFECTIVE ON PREDOMINANTLY WHITE INSTITUTIONS.
INTRODUCTION.
A predominantly white institution refers to an institution of
higher learning that mainly comprises of white students and few
other races such as African-Americans, Asians and Hispanic.
2. The racial diversity in higher learning institutions across the
United States of America is inconsistent since many colleges
and campuses tend to be white. Minority and racial recruitment
have become significant in general recruitment efforts at many
predominantly white institutions. Despite the increased efforts a
majority of learning institutions are still unsuccessful in
increasing diversity on campus. In predominantly white
institutions, it is difficult for foreign students to blend with the
white. Most of them are despised, not only by their fellow
students but also their teachers. They are never given attention
and they are deemed stupid for any concerns they raise in class.
This can lead to lower class participation, grades and in some
cases even drop outs. This is why it is important for minority
students in predominantly white institutions to have a strong
support network. We therefore look at look at how minority
recruitment and enrollment is now effective on predominantly
white institutions.
Some predominantly white institutions have student groups that
are dedicated in supporting the foreign students to adjustments.
This includes organizations such as Asian Student Association,
Black Cultural Society and South Asian Multicultural Organized
Students Association. These organizations welcome and support
students from other races and also create a network for students
to people who remind them of their families. This is essential
for a group of students who feel isolated and lack a sense of
belonging.
The legal aspect of diversity in higher education system ensures
increase in minority groups. The current efforts being made by
institutes of higher education to increase diversity on campuses
stems from early American segregation. The Supreme Court set
legal standards for social conditions. Among them was the
separate-but-equal legal standard, also called Plessy v.
Ferguson, which was a legal justification for European
Americans who attempted to keep the minority illiterate and
submissive.
3. In order to further increased minority enrollment in American
colleges and universities, the Supreme Court heard the case of
Regents of the University of California v.Bakke in 1978. Bakke
who is a student, was denied admission twice to a California
medical school despite having better grades and test scores than
successful minority applicants. Bakke was among the first to
present grievances about affirmative action to court. Bakke
claimed that he was a victim of reverse discrimination. After
intervention, the Court found that state universities were
permitted to give modest preference to minority students
provided that all other admission credentials were essentially
equal ( from Cross, 2000). Four attorneys confirmed that Bakke
had been the victim of reverse discrimination. Bakke was then
admitted to the school after the court hearing.
The breakdown of school segregation as a result of federal civil
rights legislation and the adoption of affirmative action
admissions policies in hundreds of American
colleges and universities (from Cross, 2000) increased the
minority enrollment in predominantly white institutions. The
diversity on college and campuses began to increase after the
1960s.
To also increase minority enrollment and recruitment in
predominantly white institutions, we should understand the
relationship among ethnicity, cultural and communication.
Chaundra and Paul (2003) put forward that universities should
use techniques like friend-get-a-friend to help increase
awareness hence supporting efforts through community leaders
and minority members of the organization, and targeting the
message to the minority in a culturally courteous manner.
Institutions are learning to adapt their activities to the changing
social climate. They are also relying on their practitioners to
help win public support and trust through listening and
communicating with their publics more effectively. Chaundra
and Paul (2003) note that ethnic and cultural factors must be
4. considered when communicating with the many people.
There is also need of public relations in higher education to
improve the number of minority in the predominantly white
institutions. Developing effective public relations tactics to
recruit and diversify institutions of high education is becoming
increasingly important because public relations provide an
organization with new opportunities. Practitioners interact with
more internal and external people than anyone else in the
organization and have the ability to identify new markets, new
products and new methods (from Public Relations Profession,
2005).
University public relations programs are designed to maintain
the mutually beneficial
relationship of the university system. The relationships that
organizations such as universities
create and maintain with publics are subject to the constant
political, social, economic, and
technological changes in society.
Universities should utilize public relations to make it clear to
their publics that they
are concerned with diversity and it is an important issue. Wu
(2005) suggests that the promise of diversity will only be
realized if there is assistance by institutional leaders, grassroots
efforts that build bridges among communities, and more
scholarship opportunities. Universities should also set
objectives of helping students develop their college aspirations
and their competitiveness (Roach, 2005).
Harlow (1939), says public relations keeps the community in
close contact with college
and university institutional life through students, both current
and alumni; therefore, a public
relations practitioner maintains close contact with these publics
in order to maintain a mutual relationship. Other goals of public
5. relations programs in higher education are to strengthen
community relationships, reduce misunderstandings, and give
the public a clear understanding of
the efforts and objectives of the school (from Grossley, 1945).
The changing social climate of the United States will make it
possible for universities to
find new avenues of attracting students and help manage
change.
Federally funded programs helps to save the education of the
poor minority. There are multiple ways of proactive
intervention strategies for racial and ethnic minority students.
Some are long-term while others focus on the first-year
experience. Many of these programs aim at to inspiring able
students to pursue post-secondary degrees. One type of these
initiatives is the federally supported Upward Bound program,
established in 1965. Upward Bound was designed to help
disadvantaged students enroll in and graduate from
postsecondary institutions. Upward Bound helps young
teenagers between thirteen and nineteen years of age who have
experienced low academic achievement. High school students
from poor backgrounds whose parents have not earned a
bachelor's degree and military veterans with only a high school
diploma are eligible to participate. The program provides
fundamental support to these students, such as help with the
college admissions process and assistance in preparing for
college entrance examinations. It engages students in an
extensive, multiyear program designed to provide academic,
counseling, and tutoring services, along with a cultural
enrichment component.
CONCLUSION.
From the statistics, the population in institutions of higher
education has been changing and becoming increasingly more
diverse. There is a great need for innovative programming and
policies to provide inspirational guidance and counseling to
6. assist minority students in predominantly white institutions
when dealing with academic and socio-economic challenges in
college. Minority students come from different backgrounds
with different orientations, perspectives and perceptions of
success and failure. When an institution properly identifies
these differences and deal with them constructively, then it will
be able to address the shortcomings faced by racial and ethnic
minority students.
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