Coming off a year with the highest minority enrollment numbers in school history, some feel BGSU still has a way to go.
This year there are 2,457 undergraduate students of color enrolled, making this the most ethnically diverse class in BGSU history. The number of new African American students enrolling has more than doubled since 2003.
Alberto Gonzalez, Vice-Provost and Professor, believes BGSU has become a more diverse place over the years.
‘Minority enrollment has increased over the past few years,’ Gonzalez said. ‘In the past we’ve had years where there were only 200 students of color. Those numbers have been increasing.’
Some students at BGSU feel that the campus still lacks enough diversity. A group on Facebook, titled ‘I Shoulda Went to a Blacker College’ was created with 152 students joining the group.
One member of the Facebook group, sophomore Jaimie Marshall, feels BGSU needs to work harder on making the campus more diverse.
‘We don’t have enough functions and festivals that educate and bring diversity to BG,’ Marshall said.
According to Gonzalez, the campus doesn’t look the same through the eyes of a minority.
‘To some degree BGSU looks a little different [to] a person of color,’ Gonzalez said. ‘We are improving, but we have a long way to go.’
Another member of the Facebook group, sophomore Robin Spencer-Walker says BGSU’s diversity exceeded her expectations.
‘It’s more diverse then I thought it would be,’ Spencer-Walker said. ‘I knew it was in a small town so I thought it would just be a bunch of white people.’
Spencer-Walker feels the University does offer a lot of programs that focus on multicultural issues.
‘They do have a lot of Hispanic events and during Black History Month they do a lot,’ Spencer-Walker said. ‘They’re doing their part.’
One way the University tries to recruit a more diverse group of people is by visiting the inner-city.
‘We build solid relationships in areas with high black and Latino populations to make sure that schools in Cleveland, Detroit and Toledo have buses to get here on preview day,’ Gonzalez said.
‘We try to recruit students from Texas to get more Hispanics,’ Teri Sharp, director of media relations, said.
Both Marshall and Spencer-Walker believe that experiencing diversity now is important for success in the future.
‘When you get into the workplace it will be diverse, you will be around a lot of different people,’ Spencer-Walker said. ‘People get used to certain surroundings and then they get into the workplace and things change.’
‘If you aren’t going to get the opportunity to be with minorities then it will be hard to work with them if you’ve never experienced their culture,’ Marshall said.
Marshall also feels the University could increase diversity by offering more scholarships to minorities and having more festivals that focus on people of different ethnic backgrounds.
