Minority Students Protest BU’s Administrative Indifference

Fifty students criticized Boston University’s administration and admissions department at last night’s Minority Recruitment meeting, accusing them of not actively recruiting minority students, ignoring minority student concerns on campus and not providing adequate funding for cultural programs.

The meeting, organized by UMOJA, Latinos Unidos, Minority Engineers Society, Caribbean Club, African Student Organization and BU’s NAACP chapter, was expected to be a forum for ideas on methods of boosting BU’s flimsy minority recruitment and retention rates. However, as the meeting progressed, students quickly became restless, saying their ideas and concerns were being ignored by administrative officials.

Dean of Students W. Norman Johnson reminded students of the civil rights movement and told them if they want reform they have to actively pursue it and demand it.

“You have to be proactive,” Johnson said. “You have to be an activist. If you believe in it, it’s worth doing it. Don’t complain of the speed of the boat unless you do your share pulling the oars.”

Shortly after Johnson spoke, Student Union President Zachary Coseglia stormed to the front of the room, whipped out a 10-page proposal and vowed to lead concerned students toward improving minority life on campus.

“If we have to take a proactive stance, I’m ready to do it,” said Coseglia, a senior in the College of Communication. “I’ve started a committee to look into it. There are so many people here who are passionate about this issue. I want to record what all of you have said and do something about it.”

Coseglia’s proposal introduced a project entitled “University Perspectives,” which will document student perspectives and build coalitions that will work with the administration to address student concerns. Coseglia, whose proposal states there were just 16 African American students in this year’s freshman class, said minority enrollment is one of the Union’s top priorities.

Reginald Nichols, the senior assistant director of admissions, encouraged students to get involved in a new admissions program called the phone-a-thon. The phone-a-thon has minority students at BU call up prospective minority students who have been accepted and address any questions that they have about the University or its programs.

“We are here to hear your concerns, but also we’d like to come away with some ideas and a game plan,” Nichols said.

Coseglia suggested the admissions office is unreceptive to student ideas and is proposing programs, such as the phone-a-thon, that are not intimate enough to attract prospective students.

“For every idea that one of you guys have said, there has been an, ‘Uh, well, we can’t really do it,'” Coseglia said. “While I think phone conversations are great, I think a face is more important than a voice.”

Onaje Crawford, the Union’s vice president of multicultural affairs, said the administration is constantly downplaying student concerns. Crawford, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, drew a round of applause when he asked Nichols and Johnson what it would take for the admissions department to entertain student ideas.

“There is a constant step back every time there is an idea brought to the forefront,” Crawford said. “There is not a commitment to putting forth resources. What do we have to do to make that happen?”

Crawford invited students to stay after the meeting to organize events, saying he is confident in the Union’s plans to develop minority recruitment and mitigate student complaints.

“You can’t put the cart before the horses, and if anything is going to happen, the students are going to have to lead the administration to make things happen,” Crawford said. “Zach is proposing a committee on minority recruitment and retention, and that will be a big step towards drawing up plans.”

Many students agreed, saying BU’s minority recruitment process is ineffectual.

NAACP President Gabrielle Saylor, a CAS junior, said she had to obtain information about BU on her own and told Nichols that BU does not market itself to minority students or visit enough high schools.

“I know you didn’t come to my high school,” Saylor said. “Where exactly do you go? How do they determine which high school to go to?”

“We have a budget; we have a certain amount of professional staff,” Nichols answered. “Realistically, we can’t visit every high school.”

Nichols said the admissions department looks at student scores on standardized exams and sends out information about BU to students who meet their criteria. He also said he researches high schools that have African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian and Native American (AHANA) populations and works with community based organizations to determine which schools to visit.

Julio Cotto, a CAS senior, complained that BU does not inform prospective students about its cultural activities. Cotto said students want to be informed about programs that involve students with whom they can identify.

“I feel connected to the entire BU community, but there are smaller communities,” Cotto said.

Nichols said the admissions office used to send out information about minority organizations but stopped because students were offended.

“In the past, we have had complaints,” Nichols said. “Students saying, ‘Why are you sending me information on this? Is it because I am Latin American?'”

Zia Bartley, a sophomore in the School of Management, said she would love to help recruit students, but admissions does not tell students how they can get involved or inform them of minority programs run by the administration.

Bartley echoed Saylor and Cotto, saying BU did not actively recruit her or send her information about cultural programs.

“I was in the top 10 percent of my class, but I was not targeted,” Bartley said. “I wasn’t brought to BU; I brought myself to BU. When I got here, I was surprised to see not so many minorities on campus. I assumed that they would be here.”

CAS freshman Pamela Pierre suggested recruiting more minority athletes in order to attract minority students.

“BU has not made a conscious effort to go and look for AHANA athletes,” Pierre said. “Students want to go to a school where they feel like teams are winning. I feel like it isn’t a priority for BU to have minority athletes on their teams.”

Nichols and Johnson responded to the attacks on admissions by saying minority students need to become a part of the recruitment process if they want to attract other minority students.

“If they can be recruiters themselves, this would change,” Johnson said. “The success of BU is that we have a community and we get involved in things.”

“We feel we would be more effective if you guys can integrate yourselves into admissions,” Nichols said.

Vice President of BU’s NAACP Shenique Coston, a CAS junior, said she almost transferred last year because of the waning minority presence on campus. Coston said she is hesitant to help the admissions department recruit minority students when the administration does so little for minority organizations on campus.

“What will the admissions do for us after we help you?” Coston asked. “I have no problem helping, but I can’t look these kids in the face, get the kids here and then have to say, ‘Well, they don’t really do much for me.’ We are struggling right now to send the gospel choir on tour; a lot of the minority organizations on campus have no funding for their black history month programs.”

Ebraheem Fontaine, a senior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology attending the meeting, said students have a responsibility to do their work and graduate and cannot advocate change independent of the administration.

Fontaine suggested that BU emulate MIT and establish joint committees that include representatives from all facets of the multicultural realm.

“A coalition needs to form between students of color and the admissions office and the office of multicultural affairs,” Fontaine said. “The students can’t do it by themselves.”

“The University is depending too much on us for retention,” said Christopher Morales, a sophomore in the College of General Studies. “It is our groups who are supposed to create the family or atmosphere to keep the students here, but we get here and admissions disappears.”

Nichols, who called the meeting positive, said BU’s student population is 12.1 percent Asian American, 2.9 percent African American, 5.1 percent Latin American and .03 percent Native American.