Study gives Louisiana’s public universities failing grade in racial equity
15th October 2018 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
A recent study by the University of Southern California quantifying and evaluating racial equity at the nation’s public colleges and universities placed Louisiana dead last in the country when it comes to collegiate opportunities for and the academic success of Black students on campus.
The report, conducted by the USC Race and Equity Center and titled,” Black Students at Public Colleges and Universities: a 50-state Report Card,” ranked every public, four-year institution of higher education in the country based on four equity factors — representation on campus, gender ratio, degree completion and student-to-faculty ratio — on a four-point scale.
The study then combined the ratings for each school in every state to create a statewide average, from 0 to 4.0, with 4.0 representing the maximum level of representation and success for Black students to gauge the university system’s racial inclusion and progressiveness.
Out of the 50 states, Massachusetts’ public university system earned the highest rating for racial equity and achievement at 2.81 out of 4.0. Louisiana ended up in 50th place, with a ranking of just 1.18.
Broken down into each individual public university in the Pelican State, racial equity ratings ranged from 0.75 for LSU-Alexandria to 1.75 for the University of New Orleans. LSU’s flagship campus in Baton Rouge earned a rating of 1.25, while Nicholls State in Thibodaux received a mark of 1.0.
The next-highest ratings after UNO was a 1.50 given to both LSU-Shreveport and
Northwestern State, while a mark of 1.0 was given to Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana and UL-Monroe.
LSU Media Relations Director Ernie Ballard responded to the Baton Rouge school’s 1.25 ranking by stressing the values contained in LSU’s diversity statement as
proof that the university places strong emphasis on racial and ethnic inclusion and fairness, a prioritization that continues to reap positive results for LSU’s Black students.
“LSU continues to see more and more successes among its African-American students, including continuing to break the record for awarding the most degrees to African-American students each year at graduation and in bringing in the university’s largest, most diverse incoming freshman class in LSU history this fall,” he said. “LSU is a national leader in a number of other ways, including leading the nation in awarding chemistry PhDs to African Americans.”
Ballard also pointed to “a number of programs focused on helping under-represented populations and minority students achieve success at LSU,” such as the Black Male Leadership Initiative in the Office of Diversity. The BMLI Fellows Program employs mentoring, leadership development academic support to boost retention, graduation and participation rates and connects Black male students with resources on campus.
In addition, Ballard noted, the National Science Foundation this fall awarded LSU more than $2.5 million to support initiatives that encourage and support underrepresented minorities math and science disciplines.
“LSU is the flagship university of Louisiana,” Ballard said, “and we hope that the success we have seen among our African-American student body can be an example to the rest of the state on how we can offer programs and opportunities for all of our students to be successful.”
UNO President Dr. John Nicklow acknowledged that while his institution can always improve when it comes to racial equity and inclusion, he added that UNO continues to make strides in that area.
“Strictly speaking, the study results indicate clear room for improvement, and the University of New Orleans is working toward that end in a variety of ways,” Nicklow said. “This fall, we increased the percentage of African-American students to 18 percent, and we continue to be one of the most diverse campuses in the state when considering all racial and ethnic groups. This is the largest African-American student enrollment in six years, and it represents the largest single year percentage increase since Katrina.”
Nicklow said the 18-percent jump stem from a 27-percent increase in admission applications by Black students; overall, he added, more than a third of UNO’s applications come from African-American prospective students.
“I believe these students recognize our activities to further improve diversity and inclusion on our campus,” Nicklow said.
Like LSU, UNO has implemented a Black male initiative, dubbed MoMENtum, and Nicklow said Privateer Pathways, a co-requisite curricular model, aims to increase campus access by the entire city’s population. Nicklow noted that UNO restarted the Progressive Black Student Union; opened a Diversity Engagement Center last year; and is enhancing hiring practices to ensure diverse candidate pools and boost the total of faculty and staff of color.
“These are only a few examples of ways we are working to better support African-American students on campus,” he said.
Nicholls State President Dr. Jay Clune said his university “is making strides everyday to address issues such as racial progressiveness and inclusion.”
Clune cited several developments and programs directed at improving racial equity on the Thibodaux campus, including the newly-created Colonels Retention of Winners Network, or CROWN, with which Nicholls officials “have set our sights firmly on both recruiting and retaining non-athlete African-American male students. Nicholls is committed to the success of these young men.”
Clune also pointed to initiatives like Tour Tuesday powered by Entergy, which provides underserved students, many of them African-American, a chance to tour campus; and the federal grant-funded Bayou Educational Opportunity Center, located on the Nicholls campus, which “serves to expose individuals of all walks of life to the idea that higher education is within their reach,” he said.
In terms of the USC study’s low statewide ranking for Louisiana public colleges and universities, Clune said diversity programs like the ones offered at Nicholls and elsewhere are important second steps toward greater racial inclusion and equity. The first, and most crucial, step, he said, is financial resources.
“We believe Louisiana is turning a corner from the years of funding reductions for higher education,” Clune said. “Funding our institutions of higher learning is the first step… Having the resources to provide funding for such programs through state support and industry partnerships are critical to making a difference. By making such programs a priority, all of Louisiana will benefit.”
UNO’s Nicklow echoed Clune’s sentiments, addition that public attention must be focused on enhancing opportunities for all students in the state, regardless of ethnicity or gender.
“Our institutions need to recognize that action and targeted support is needed to move the needle,” he said. “That will require investment of time and resources, but also strategy and deployment of best practices. Ensuring access to higher education by students of color will be a critical component of achieving our degree completion goals in the next decade.”
LSU representative Ballard added that “[c]ollectively, higher education institutions in Louisiana are working toward the goal of making Louisiana stronger and more inclusive for all of our populations. We want opportunities for all of Louisiana students to achieve an education at one of our state’s universities.”
This article originally published in the October 15, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
