Over the past several years at The University of Memphis,enrollment among students of various ethnicities has shifted.
While the percentage of black and Hispanic U of M students hasincreased, the percentage of white students has steadily decreasedsince fall 2000.
In fall 2000, 61 percent of the student body was white and 30percent was black, while only 199 students composed the Hispanicstudent body. Now, however, the white student body has dropped to58 percent, while black student enrollment has grown to almost 33percent, and Hispanic enrollment rose to 257 students thisyear.
Although some applaud The University's efforts to attract blackand Hispanic students, others question why white students arechoosing other schools.
"Local demographics account for a lot of that," said Tom Neenan,assistant vice provost for Undergraduate Studies. "The percentageof African-American students in local high schools is very high. Soin turn, the African-American student body at The U of M is alsohigh."
But the rise in black student enrollment at The U of M presentsa false hope, as black students are still one of the least likelygroups to graduate, Neenan said.
However, even though black students are less likely than theirwhite counterparts to graduate, they still have a better chance atThe U of M than many other colleges.
"We are one of the leaders nationally in the number ofgraduating African-American students," said Neenan.
One of the reasons for the increase in black enrollment is thatThe University actively recruits black students through the GeierProgram. One extension of that program is the annualAfrican-American Recruitment Day, open to all city and county highschools Friday in the University Center Faulkner Lounge from 9 a.m.to 3 p.m.
The Geier Program involves extra money being put aside for blackstudents' recruitment and retention. The program was begun after alawsuit in which Rita Geier (then Sanders) and a predominatelyblack group sued the State of Tennessee in federal court in 1968,saying that even after the state was officially desegregated in1956, it still held a dual system of higher education in which themajority of black students, faculty and administrators wereconcentrated in only one school in the state.
Now, through the program, Tennessee schools must make an activeeffort to recruit from racially diverse pools for student bodiesand college positions, ranging from staff positions to high-rankingadministration positions.
"When the program first started, African-American enrollment waslow," said Shawn Carter Monie, U of M recruitment representative."It has played a big part in the increase in black enrollment atThe U of M."
Meant as a remedy to institutional discrimination, the GeierProgram has proven to be an important measure in the desegregationof higher institutions across Tennessee, Neenan said, adding thatthe program also helps The University build a good relationshipwith local high schools.
Besides the Geier Program, there are dozens of special programseach year that reach out to groups traditionally thought of asminorities, said Brian Meredith, student relationsrepresentative.
For example, each spring there is a Hispanic day reception,where students come to campus to mingle with other students andfaculty members and the staff addresses questions and suits thestudents' needs, Meredith said.
"There is not one particular racial or ethnic group TheUniversity is targeting," Meredith said. "The University tries toserve all students who want to be freshmen."
