Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

{' ' ‘ POPULATION: Programs hope to increase number of applicants ► From Pag* 1 grown by 900 students. In that same period of time, the number of white University students has decreased by 100, accord ing to UQA Pact Books. The University is not alone in the diversity gap. At the University of South Carolina, nearly 16 percent of the student population is black, though a little more than 28 per cent of the state's popula tion identifies as black. At the University of Tennessee and the University of Florida, the universities’ population of students who identify as black dif fers from the state popula tion by about nine and eight percentage points respectively. University demographer Doug Bachtel said black students choose not to attend schools such as the University because of a historical view of southern universities. “There was a time when black students weren’t welcome anywhere that dies hard,” Bachtel said. Horace Ward became the first black student to apply for admission to the University on Sept. 29, 1950, and spent three years battling for his right to education, regardless of the color of his skin, after being denied entry. On Jan. 9, 1961, Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter became the first two black stu dents to successfully enroll at the University, ending more than 176 years of segregation. Their enroll ment was a landmark achievement in the deseg regation of higher educa tion in the South, the end to more than a decade long fight to desegregate the University. Since 1961, the number of black students steadily increased, but a judge’s ruling seemed to threaten the progress the University had made until that point. In 2001, Johnson v. Board of Regents of the University of Georgia ruled the University’s affirmative action plan was unconsti tutional. Since the ruling, the population of black stu L<v^ e W Gift Idea? ApPOr ° "fjW 2 lb. can of Georgia Grown 4mmsß a % Peanuts for $6 per can a£ , , jr ▲ J Honey Roasted and Lightly Salted" ' mf A Pickup: Room 3111 Plant Science Building, from or Course IjHHm . gnJ to laHHB a v - ; The UGA Turf & Agronomy Clubs B** | % U Iftßfr • tor information .„". * * BE . | S , j K '*s % K ~„* j, f located at 1720 Epps Bridge Pkwy Suite US • 706.5468154 • Between Kroger and Home Depot • Mention this ad and take m off Ist purchase gj Facebook Slmply Southern \ Mens and Slm p!y Southern - I-ake Oconee dents at the University has increased from 1,791 stu dents in 2001 to 2,681 stu dents in 2009. In February 2010, the University System of Georgia report ed the minority population of the University had increased 70 percent over the past decade. “One of the things is UGA is a very different place than it was two decades ago,” said Deborah Gonzalez, direc tor of diversity and inclu sion in the Office of Institutional Diversity. “That is a very positive point to highlight. Alums who may not have felt wel come 20 years ago now have children here who have found campus to be a very different place.” A typical student? When asked, most stu dents had a similar description of what “a typ ical University student” is. “I’d say typically a 6-foot tall white male, blond, North Face [jack et], bookbag. Female leggings with Nike shorts, maybe an oversized jacket. The female would have brown hair, maybe blonde,” said Jesse Hocking, sopho more film studies major from Athens. “Fairly intelligent, I guess. Mostly white. I guess upper-middle class,” said Susanna Paetzhold, a junior advertising major from Atlanta. It comes as no surprise that white is mentioned in the sea of faces gath ered at Jittery Joe’s in the Miller Learning Center on an afternoon in December, only three students sitting in the area were not white. “When I think about a typical UGA student, the majority of students are of course white. I think of frat boys and sorority girls, who live on Milledge,” Mains said. “And I guess that’s very stereotypical because it is a very diverse population, but because it’s so diluted, I guess, that’s not the first thing I think of when I think of UGA students, although they do exist. And I’m one of them. But even when I tell people that I go to UGA, that I’m a part of NOW OPEN? sSjTliE^ fi, \Sjmd&s ... "//..•■' . ■t'iiffi : ’ % Custom personalization, gifts and interiors offering licensed sorority and fraternity products jUj |v l uPftA f wfrX ■ H ■; 2009 UNIVERSITY POPULATION BY RACE HU 'v Hispanic Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 5 1,027 American Indian 77 Source: 2009 UGA Fact Book this community, they’re like, ‘What?’ and really amazed because it is so rare I guess.” Bachtel said the state of Georgia has the fourth highest population of peo ple who identify as black in the nation and the University also has a large total population, which he said skewed the popula tion comparison numbers. “We have a small per centage of African Americans, but a high number, because our enrollment is so large,” Bachtel said. As Mains was looking at colleges in high school, she said she initially wanted to attend a Historically Black College and University, but for financial reasons ended up at the University. For Mains, any histori cal or societal assumptions about the University had no influence on her deci sion she came for the academic environment. “I knew some kids from my high school, maybe like two students who gradu ated before me who came here, so I figured there were gonna be black peo ple here but I was willing to meet all different kinds of people. So I wasn’t dis NEWS couraged that there weren’t going to be many black students, but now that I am here, I know there are a lot,” Mains said. “It’s not really in numbers, but within the black community, all the black students know each other. I feel like we’re a small black college within the predominantly white institution.” At Riverdale High School, where Mains grad uated, she said most stu dents attend smaller com munity colleges, and don’t see larger institutions like the University as achiev able goals for financial or societal reasons. Bachtel said black stu dents have many different reasons for choosing not to attend the University and it would be hard to point to a single solution. “There just isn’t one answer it’s too complex a question,” Bachtel said. “There’s a zillion reasons why it doesn’t make it right.” Progression In the past several years, the University has enacted programs to help increase campus diversity. The Red a Black | Tuesday, December aoio “We’re trying to break down the stereotypes [high] schools have about UGA,” said Des Potier, associate director of diver sity recruitment and access. Potier is the head of the Road to UGA Initiative, a program aimed at recruit ing students from under represented high schools. As part of the program, the admissions office spends an entire day at a high school, teaching the students about the college application process as well as about the University. “We were trying to think outside the box to recruit the best students in the state regardless of race or ethnic background,” Potier said. Right now, the program focuses on underrepre sented schools in metro Atlanta, but Potier said it plans to expand to throughout the state. Though the program was established only a little more than two years ago, Potier said it has already achieved results. “It’s a really innovative program, and you’d be hard pressed to find any other program like it,” Potier said. “Schools that used to send 10 applica tions have jumped to 60 applications after doing the program.” Potier said there are many different groups on campus invested in the program. High school alumni who attend the University volunteer to come to the events and help students from their high schools to connect with the University. “For us to be able to take what we have and bring it to them it goes a long way,” Potier said. “It moves you it’s not just reading an application.” The University also has programs in place for stu dents once they enroll at the University. The Office of Institutional Diversity, which was founded in 2002, provides support for minority students at the University. Gonzalez said the goal was not only to encourage diverse stu dents to attend the University, but also to have Tuesday jki Black (W Comer 0 oi ] }fee NEW . USED * jft ; VINTAGE ffjj: s OFFjao m| 2 entrees EUISINE ■ Dinner Only Cxpircs 12 31 10 173 N. Jackson st. downtown S WWW CBZVVUMVUMftT Hf NS COM • 7UB.gQB 1747 -: r 1 l*Tg 1 Topping Pizza *4Ham I c 049 tuc499 Ofttor Online • PspnJotHts.com 1 ? fH ' §§S 4? ] i mm sl ji j ** Cash & Carry Roses I ath'ensplorist s ls per dozen! I www.atheng-norlst.not 1072 Baxter St. 706.549.9W0 | Juit voted Athena’ Beat Florist | —saw ——~—ra— "st BWKssfree mmmr jMmSSI order of PICKLES V J J Wim P urch4 *® o( any food item coupon par visit Cannot • 4w cometnawdnothaf oftere 1 IffBBIVHBIItUWIHHIBII.COM 1# B 8 a support system in place once they arrive here. “The main focus is that students are able to learn what they need to learn,” Gonzalez said. “There are a number of diversity resources available on campus for all students disability, LGBT, the stu dent center. There’s the multicultural students and programs, the institute for women’s studies and fac ulty themselves.” Both Gonzalez and Potier said misconceptions and misunderstandings about the University lead many students to not give the University a chance. “The assumption is that students know where to go,” Gonzalez said. “It’s been an issue of they need to know where can they get that information. A lot of students find it through groups they join, but how do they find that organiza tion to begin with?” Potier said when he came to the University he heard from many people the Admissions Office needed to improve its out reach to high schools with underrepresented popula tions. At Mains’ high school, colleges and universities from different areas would come to recruit students. However, no PWIs pre dominantly white institu tions were in atten dance. Mains said the act of physically presenting students with the University as an option could make a big differ ence for the recruitment of minority students. “I think that the black student population at UGA needs to go out, back to their hometowns and the very urban communi ties and encourage the students,” Mains said. “Because when they see a black UGA student or an ethnic UGA student, see it materialize, they see ‘Oh these students aren’t just sorority girls or fraternity boys, but they’re people like me who come from humble beginnings, or not exactly the best schooling or communities, but they’re doing really well in college.’ It becomes a real istic opportunity for them selves.” 3