'U' bolsters its
minority efforts
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 8, 1983-- Page 3-A
IicXi
with newm
By JACKIE YOUNG
When a strike by black activists shut
down the University 13 years ago, the*
Regents _ promised to 'boost black
enrollment to 10 percent.,
It is a goal that has never been
reached,, but this fall, the difficulties
minority students face on campus will
..,gain a greater priority when the
-University appoints a new ad-
ministrator to look into the problem.
AS HEAD OF a proposed council on'i
minority student affiars, the ad-
ministrator's role will be "to try and
:better understand the problems
-- minority students face on this cam-
pus, according to Billy Frye, vice
president for academic affairs and
provost.
' The creation of the new post will be a
major change in the way the University
organizes its minority programs, Frye
said.
By working under Frye, the new ad-
ministrator <should help centralize the
University's many programs designed
to help minority students - a move that
minority groups have long pushed for.
Although minority enrollment as a
whole has remained stable over the last
few years, the percentage of black
students at the University has dropped
bfrom 6.9 percent in 1977 to 5.2 percent
~last year.
laONE OF THE new administrator's
T tasks will be to halt that decline by
making the University "more accoun-
table and more effective" in recruiting
and maintaining minority students, ac-
cording to Henry Johnson, vice
president for student services.
1 The University has a dismal record
for keeping black students here once
they've enrolled, according to a report
issued by the Affirmative Action office
in May. The report said that about 50
M percent of black undergraduate studen-
ts drop out, compared to a 30 percent
drop-out rate for white undergraduates.
One frequent problem cited with the
V University's support programs for_
minorities is that they are not coor-
dinated enough to be effective. Frye
said he hopes the new position will
bring more coordination to the Univer-
sity's efforts and help generate new
post
ideas.
ALL AREAS AT the University which
affect minority students, from the
financial aid office to support units such
as the Opportunity Program, will be
looked at by the new a4ministrator.
Frye said the minority coordinator
will also work closely with the deans of
schools and colleges to improve their
sevices for minority students.
There are no plans now to cut other
University . services for minority
students as a result of the new post, ac-
cording to Johnson.
"I DON'T SEE other minority ser-
vices being reduced," he said. "that is
not the intent in creating the position."
Although Johnson said the ad-
ministration has been considering
establishing the new position since
early this year, the first hint that the
University was making significant
changes in its minority efforts came
last April, when a group of students
went to Frye's office and held a sit-in.
The students said Frye's plans to cut
funds from "low-priority" areas and
give them to areas of "higher-priority",
were hurting minority students on
campus. As an example, they cited the
School of Education, which enrolls
more blacks than any unit on campus
and is slated for a 40 percent budget
cut. Some fculty members have
estimated the cut would eliminate
nearly 70 black students.
FRYE RESPONDED that he was
concerned about the University's
failure to retain blacks, and said major
changes were being planned to better
the University's record with minorities.
Johnson said the idea to create a new
administrator to deal with the problem
came about this year after a series of
reviews, conferences and reports on the
status of minorities on campus.
He said he did not think the post
would "place an extraordinary fiscal
burden on the University."
The new post is a necessary step "if
we are to maximize the resources
currently directed toward providing
services for minority studen-
ts... (and)bring in all the new resources
and services possible," Johnson said.
Daily Photo by ELIZABETH SCOTT
Peek-a-boo
Two Jack and Jill nursery school students take time out for a gamhe of
peek-a-boo at the city's Farmer's Market.
Axe falls on
two schools
(Continued from Pae 1)
fairs and provost, all say that there are
legitimate problems in each of the
schools up for cuts. They have all
agreed that if major cuts have to be
made, these schools are the places to
make them.
Although these three schools have
been forced to swallow the biggest por-
tion of the University's financial
problems, they are not the only units
making difficult cutbacks. The
geography department was closed last
year, an institute for the study of men-
tal retardation shut its doors over the
summer, and a unit which studies
relations between labor and industry
lost nearly half its budget last spring.
Also, every school and college will
have to cut between 1 percent and 10
percent of its budget and hand the
savings over to the University.
This summer
Mitigun B ig
editors, writers, and
photographers worked for
these publications and
news services:
The Wall Street Journal
Los Angeles Times
The Pittsburgh Press
The Milwaukee Journal
United Press International
Fairchild Publications
(Washington)
Washingtonian Magazine
Maybe you'll be next.
Join the Daily
764-0552
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Only five
more togo..
and you'll have all your books.
Just a little more fighting through
crowds, searching shelves, and
running around, and you'll be done.
4.4
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4
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Of course, the people who went to Ulrich's are home drinking coffee. An
Ulrich's helper took their class lists, got their books, and handed them over.
It didn't cost them any more, either.
Maybe you should try Ulrich's, too.
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