STAFF EDIT: Minority report plan untimely

As much as Boston University trumpets its diversity with statistics on international students, everyone knows that it struggles to enroll and retain minorities from this country. Clearly minority retention (or lack thereof) is an important issue for the Student Union to tackle, but the Union needs to focus on its self-proclaimed top priority fixing its constitution rather than taking on other issues with half-baked tactics.

The Union said constitutional reforms were first on the spring agenda, but leaders have yet to release any plans for this endeavor. However, they have set a Feb. 10 date for the proposal to improve minority retention. While the Union has betrayed its original plans, the more ghastly offense is that the Union has failed to recognize that its own structure desperately needs repair before it can successfully operate or efficiently improve BU.

The Union’s plans for its minority retention proposal are limited to surveying at least half the minority students about academics, social life and financial aid. While getting current students’ opinions could help illuminate why so few minorities, especially African-Americans, attend BU, it will not enough provide enough research for a comprehensive proposal. Looking at other schools and their students would help explain why students choose those other schools over BU and how those schools attract and maintain their minority populations.

Compiling and analyzing student surveys comprised the majority of the Union’s successful proposal to reform the guest policy, but the same tactic will not work for minority issues. The surveys worked well for the guest policy because the issue affects all students similarly and the administration needed to hear that most students disliked it. However, minority issues are more complicated and must be examined beyond the BU context. While the lack of diversity affects all BU students and all can respond to the surveys, non-minority students are unlikely to know why minority students choose other schools or leave BU.

One lesson from the guest policy proposal does apply to minority retention: realistic deadlines allow thorough work. Three weeks will not give ample time to create an effective, well-researched proposal. Instead of rushing, the Union should let Vice-President of Multicultural Affairs Deborah Greene begin research and develop a plan. Meanwhile, the rest of the Union needs to keep its promise to reform itself so it can effectively work on minority retention and other important issues next year.