Many potential students simply do not consider the University a viable financial option. Upon receiving last year's applications, the admissions office set about contacting all minority high school students who requested applications but never applied, assuring them that they still had a chance and offering them the option of sending in their essays separately, so they would not have to rush. The University was caught off-guard last time, but in the coming year, it should work to prevent the last-minute scramble for applicants.
Because of the past year's crisis, the University must quickly enact an organized plan for minority recruitment to avoid the rush. If it does not, future University communities may be even more homogenous than it already is. Admissions representatives should devote time to recruiting qualified students in low-income areas that do not normally receive much recruiting attention. This is not an unrealistic proposal, since much time is already spent on recruiting drives in more affluent areas that would send students to the University anyway.
A diverse campus benefits the educational community greatly. The country's population is diverse, and the University should reflect that diversity. It should play a role to help prepare students for life after graduation, when most will be placed into situations in which they will work and interact with people of all backgrounds. A lack of understanding of different cultures could make this extremely difficult.
The belief that all people are equal and should cooperate in an atmosphere of mutual trust is confounded without real understanding of other cultures. Students may still tend to mistrust or avoid the unfamiliar. A combined routine of living together and working together is a viable method of learning about people from other backgrounds. College is a good time for to have such experiences and the University should do whatever is necessary to make as much about many ethnic backgrounds familiar to students as possible.
Despite its work, the University tends to have a superficial air of diversity with many groups represented, but not much intra-group mixing. The University sponsors many events promoting cultural awareness, but it often falls short of the interaction that develops true understanding. For now, this sort of event is of great importance to bring a separated student population together, but will mean little if minorities stop applying due to a lack of University effort toward promoting itself as a friendly place for minority students. The University must make sure that as broad a pool as possible is filling out admissions applications to ensure that the University community maintains its diversity.