Town hall meeting
Many students had the unique opportunity yesterday to witness the beginning of a collective effort of students, staff and administrators to solve a problem facing our great SMU community. Key administrators graciously made themselves available to attend and answer questions at the first “town hall meeting” sponsored by the student representatives to the Board of Trustees, the Student Senate and the President’s Commission on the Status of Racial Minorities.
The problem is that many of our fellow Mustangs are not able to complete their journey as a Mustang, and even worse, many of these students are minorities. A presentation was made to us giving various numbers, leading many in attendance to believe that the minority retention problem may be overstated, and that statistically we are “double the national average.”
Let us not rest on our laurels. While being above the national average seems like a grand accomplishment, we must continue to strive to address this issue.
If the numbers indicate that we do not have a problem with minority student retention, then why did every student body officer candidate advocate this issue in their campaign platform, why does President Turner have a Commission on the Status of Racial Minorities and why does the Department of Multicultural Student Affairs office continue to push for the success of the CONNECT mentoring and S.T.A.R.S. program?
The answer is that it IS a problem. Minority students are not completing their educations at SMU. Whether they are completing their educat ions at other schools or not at all remains to be seen. We are going to try and guess what the reason for the minority retention problem is.
First, the university raised tuition another six percent this year. We as students understand that this money is necessary for our continued improvement as a university. However, how can the university expect minority students, many of whom are first-generation college students or less affluent, to continue to pay for these tuition increases without scholarships or financial aid that adjust to this increased burden? The university currently has done little study on the effects of the tuition increases on minority student retention, but it is safe to say that the numbers we have seen speak for themselves. Minority student enrollment and retention has continued to decrease as we increased tuition these last three years. It’s as simple as that. We will continue to lose students – minority and nonminority – as tuition increases. What good are new facilities if students cannot afford to use them?
Second, it is safe to say that much of our university operates in factions. Var ious groups of minority student organizations, Greek chapters and sports clubs all hold meetings, each trying to better the university in their own way. However, there is so little interaction between the groups that many minority students are sometimes overwhelmed by the numbers of students unlike them. We are two students who, despite our involvement with numerous student organizations, still sometimes feel like we are on the outside looking in. This will change when our student body’s mindset changes. We have to truly believe that each one of us is a Mustang and reach out to each other at every possible opportunity. When we begin to appreciate true diversity of colors, religions, ideologies and beliefs, we will begin to collectively advocate it to our administration.
Finally, the loss of minority students seems to be due in part to the relative lack of minority faculty, particularly Hispanic and African-American, not only in the fields of ethnic studies but in the numerous de partments throughout SMU. One of the great selling points of this university is the faculty/student relationship offered, but many minority students cannot “relate” to a professor whose background and experiences are nothing like those of the student. This is not an attack on our great faculty. This is a request to the university to continue to strive to make our faculty even better for the sake of the students.
We continue to lose students because they cannot afford to stay here. They do not always feel welcome by their peers or their environment, nor do they experience the true strength of an SMU education, the faculty/student relationships. We call on each and everyone of you to join in the effort to make SMU more diverse and enhance the Mustang experience. Any person who is a Mustang should have the opportunity to be a Mustang for life.
Town hall meeting
