Of course, any increase is always welcome - increasing minority representation within the student population, administration and faculty has long been among the University's primary goals. Former University President James Duderstadt created the Michigan Mandate nearly 10 years ago in the hopes of achieving academic opportunity in conjunction with racial, ethnic and gender-based diversity. In 1994, Duderstadt implemented the Agenda for Women, a plan designed to attract women to the University and create a comfortable environment.
Duderstadt's goal is slowly coming to fruition; last November, race and ethnicity statistics for the class of 2000 showed that minority enrollment had increased to 25 percent. For the same group of students, women now comprise more than half the class for only the second time in University history. Duderstadt's Michigan Mandate and Agenda for Women have made steady, albeit slow, progress for enrolled students. But it needs to speed up.
Administrators must now try to bridge the gap between faculty and student recruitment efforts - the same tactics are not applicable to both groups. Distinguished faculty are infinitely more difficult to attract and require no small amount of perseverance.
The community can credit deans and professors from the University's various schools and colleges for courting the 12 new members of the University faculty. The largely decentralized effort demonstrates success on a small scale - with stepped-up efforts and cooperation between college and school deans and department chairs, the personal approach again may prove successful in raising the number of minority staff.
While this year's increase shows progress, the sum total of minority representation within the University faculty stands at 15.4 percent. The figure has grown by only 3 percent in five years. The low numbers do not reflect the student population and appear woefully small in comparison to the national population. National statistics will soon show minorities comprising 50 percent of the population and Prof. Thomas Dunn, chair of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, said, "we've got a long way to go before the faculty looks like that."
Failure to give students a more representative teaching staff may negate some of the progress through programs like the Michigan Mandate. Students without role models or mentors may find their educational experience unfulfilling and seek more diverse colleges and universities. Increasing minority faculty to at least a level that reflects the University would give its community a fairer picture of the world - and with it, the chance to learn.