University's Lack of Diversity Troubles Students
University continually struggles to enroll minority students
Sunday, September 26th, 2010
For Elizabeth O’Conner, the school year began just like it did for thousands of college students across America. She rushed to finish registration, fought with financial aid, and shook off the end of summer blues. She felt like everything was fine until she realized something that disturbed her. Her classes weren’t diverse.
“In my first semester, Spring 2010, my classes were incredibly diverse and I assumed that’s what the school looked like,” said O’Conner, a white General Studies student. “Now I’m taking a different type of classes and it’s weird for me because it’s a sea of white people.” In O’Conner’s 30 person art history lecture, there is only one African American student.
Moshe Alpert-Eschbach, Lang junior, is one of only 570 African American students at The New School, just five percent of the total population. Photo by Yumna Al-Arashi.
According to the 2009 Fact Book, of the 10,260 students enrolled at the university, only 570, or 5.6 percent, were African American. The largest racial group was by far white students at 4,217, making up just under half of the entire university population.
“In many of my classes, I am the only person of color,” said Ra Ruiz, 23, Lang senior.
Other racial groups struggle with representation as well. Nine and a half percent of students identified as Asian American and only 7.8 percent identified as Hispanic. The smallest ethnic group, Native American, makes up less than half of a percent of the total New School population.
“There are not very many Egyptians, there are not many Arabs,” said Ashley Hefnawy, 19, Lang sophomore who herself is Arab. “I’m a minority alone.”
Although the enrollment numbers aren’t in for 2010 yet, the total black student population at the university has hovered around 7 percent for the past ten years.
Students claim the statistics are even apparent in the atmosphere. Many students of color say that intolerance has taken root because of the lacking racial diversity. “I’ve seen racism,” Ruiz said. “I’ve definitely seen bias and ignorance. It hasn’t been directed at me, but I’ve seen it in classrooms during discussions.”
“Nobody feels like it’s important enough to be addressed,” she added.
The university’s under-representation of minorities has been a problem for many years. Paula Austin, who attended Lang in the 1980s and is now a part-time faculty member, said that the school has always struggled with diversity. “I was the only student of color in most of the courses I took,” Austin said. “I’m surprised that in 20 years, while the school has grown and wants to have a reputation as a bastion place where social justice and school meet, this issue still seems to be here. I don’t fully understand how that happened.”
The New School maintains that it strives to promote diversity and says that often minorities are unable to attend the university because they can’t afford to. Despite that, they try to create a vibrant student body. “Recruiting a diverse population is an important objective for The New School,” said Bob Gay, vice president of enrollment.
The university does have programs to promote diversity and build minority communities, but much of that work is taken up by student groups like Sisters on the Runway and Students of the African Diaspora. “Many of the university’s diversity initiatives are student-led, including programs sponsored by recognized student organizations,” said Susan Heske, senior director of communications and special projects for student services. “Students are always encouraged to join a student organization or to start one of their own.”
Last year, professor Bill Gaskins was a part of a committee assembled by the provost’s office whose task was to put together a report about the issues surrounding diversity at the university. Although the report is finished, the provosts office has yet to publish it. “The university is doing the best they can,” said Gaskins. “Time and events will evaluate what that means.”
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