Programs attract minority students

By Elizabeth Kassab

Daily Staff Reporter

"All students, not just minorities, should have the opportunity to be part of a diverse campus," University Admissions Director Ted Spencer said.

To ensure this, the University is taking measures to encourage underrepresented minority students to enroll for the fall term.

The programs "fit under the mission statement to do everything possible to attract and admit and encourage students from a variety of backgrounds" to attend the University, Spencer said.

Last month the University sponsored its annual Phone Call Out, an effort to personalize the University to accepted underrepresented minorities. Volunteers called the prospective students to welcome them to the University and answer their questions. The costs of calling every admitted student would be exorbitant, Spencer said, and underrepresented minorities need to be reassured that there is a place for them in a large university.

Spencer said the affirmative action lawsuits, which charge that the University employs unfair methods in its admissions process, have had no effect on the techniques the University uses to recruit students.

Cassie Stafford, a senior from Martin Luther King, Jr. High School in Detroit, said she was pleasantly surprised that such a large school would take the time to call students individually. It showed that "they do personalize," she said.

Stafford was one of about 900 students and parents who attended the annual Spring Welcome Day on Saturday. The event is geared specifically toward underrepresented minorities who have been admitted to the University for the Fall 2000 semester. Students were offered breakfast, attended panel discussions and an information fair and went on a walking tour of campus.

Spencer said the event was designed for minority students to get a better feel of the University campus to see whether they liked it.

The aim of Spring Welcome Day was to introduce underrepresented minorities to the "critical mass of students like them."

Spencer said the structure of Spring Welcome Day is the same as Campus Day, but the questions prospective students pose are different.

Spencer said the results for both events are positive. He said about 80 percent of students who attend Campus Day tours and Spring Welcome Day end up enrolling in the University.

The separate event is held every year because the minority turn-out is better. Spencer said minority students have unique concerns about attending a large, predominantly white university, and Spring Welcome Day is designed to address those specific concerns.

The message that the University hopes to deliver is that minorities have a presence and a voice on campus, and there are student support networks for minorities, Spencer said.

LSA junior Aqueelah Cowan attended the Information Fair with the Black Student Union and said she felt "after you're here, you're just here. There's no support" from the University. "One reason for BSU to be here today is to show them that there is a support network among students," she said.

Spencer said University students started the program and the administration took over when the event became too hard for students to handle financially and logistically. "Student touch, flavor and influence is very strong" in the design of recruitment programs, Spencer said.

Information fair tables, campus tours and panels were all staffed by University students.

First-hand information from University students was a valuable part of the experience, said Catherin Pollard, a senior at Robichaud High School in Dearborn Heights.