VOICEnews
Colleges must modify ways to admit minority students
MAHE members discuss aftermath of Proposal 2 passage.
Colleges and universities must find ways to promote and maintain diverse learning environments on their campuses in light of the voter-approved ban on affirmative action in Michigan.
Members of the Michigan Association of Higher Education (MAHE) reached this conclusion in discussions on the negative impact that Proposal 2 will have on minority enrollment.
Proposal 2, approved by Michigan voters in November, bans the use of race and gender preferences in college admissions. Preliminary data from the University of Michigan suggests that Proposal 2 will reduce minority enrollment there.
“We talked about several ways colleges and universities can establish policies that by their very nature would encourage minority enrollment,” said Nancy White, associate professor in the Department of Finance and Law at Central Michigan University.
MAHE members suggested these possibilities:
• Admitting a percentage of students whose parents’ annual income is less than $20,000.
• Establishing community foundations to provide scholarships for minority students.
• Admitting a percentage of students from single-parent households.
• Accepting students who are the first from their families to ever apply to college.
MAHE President Matt Dunckel of Alpena Community College said higher education should help students understand the need for cultural diversity.
“One way might be to create curriculums that model positive behaviors in discussions about ethnic diversity,” he said.
MAHE members also suggested establishing sister school relationships among college student senates as a way to bring diverse students together.
“Student senates could spend time at each other’s colleges on a weekend and get to know one another,” Dunckel said. “We may fear another culture because we have no understanding of it.
“We need to create a culture of curiosity rather than a culture of fear about people of different skin colors. The skin color of every person is unique and different, yet we lump people into categories based on race and use that as a way to oppress people.”