Post by Aggie One on Feb 19, 2007 10:06:10 GMT -5
www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/living/education/16731313.htm
Black colleges recruit Latinos
Numbers small but growing
DÁNICA COTO
dcoto@charlotteobserver.com
The question, without fail, comes up when Henry Muñoz-López drives his car or wears a sweatshirt with the N.C. A&T State University logo on it.
What's it like for someone like you to go there?
What they're really asking is, What's it like for a Latino to go to a historically black college?
It's become a more common question.
Muñoz-López is still the minority within a minority, but the demographics are shifting.
Historically black colleges in North Carolina and across the country are stepping up recruitment of Latinos, seizing on what officials call an untapped market.
"They're opening their corridors saying, `We understand. We'll help you walk the path,' " said Alice García, hired last month to recruit Latinos for Winston-Salem State University.
But not everyone embraces the change.
Some believe recruiting Latinos will make it harder for black students to get into colleges whose original mission was to educate them and provide a sense of identity and heritage.
"African Americans are going to have to work harder at getting their kids ready for college," said Frank Matthews, publisher of Diverse Issues in Higher Education, a national magazine that reports on minority education trends. "If they don't, they're going to get locked out. I can't say whether it's fair or not, but it's the reality."
Historically black colleges are excluding African Americans by recruiting Latinos and whites, said Rufus Spears, 75, an alum of Charlotte's Johnson C. Smith University.
"I grew up when Charlotte-Mecklenburg was totally segregated," Spears said. "I can remember the signs that said `colored' and `white.' Opportunities were not given to us."
`Well, I'm here.'
When García recruits for Winston-Salem State, she says most Latinos tell her, " `I thought that was a historically black college.' "She replies, "Well, I'm here. We need people who are going to take that step."
And they have.
The Latino population has almost tripled at Winston-Salem State in the past eight years; about 50 of the 5,650 students are Latino. N.C. A&T, with 11,000 students, saw Latinos grow from 29 to 91 in the past eight years. N.C. Central University, with 8,675 students, has 143 Latinos this year, compared with 40 in 1999.
Johnson C. Smith University, meanwhile, is starting to recruit Latinos this year, placing ads in the Spanish Yellow Pages. Two Latinos are enrolled now, and fewer than 10 have attended in the past eight years.
Yearly tuition at public, historically black colleges nationwide costs more than $15,000, a bit less than it would cost at other public colleges, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
What's behind the trend
Recruiting Latinos is touted as a way to diversify the student body, but it's also driven by the numbers.
Tomikia LeGrande, interim director of undergraduate admissions at Winston-Salem State, can rattle them off by memory: In 2002, only 2 percent of N.C. high school graduates were Hispanic. By 2018, 33 percent will be Hispanic, she predicts.
National numbers reveal the same trend. From 2004 to 2015, there'll be a 42 percent jump in college enrollment among Latinos, with an estimated 2.6 million enrolled by 2015, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
With more blacks choosing other schools, historically black colleges are struggling to attract students, education experts say. Latinos have become the ideal target, Matthews said.
"No one's going to build colleges for Hispanics the way they built colleges for black folk 130 years ago," he said. "You can't get them into white colleges because of the test scores, so they're going to go to black colleges."
In North Carolina, whites have consistently scored higher on yearly reading and math tests than Latinos or blacks. Last year, 73 percent of white high school students passed the end-of-year state test, compared with 49 percent of Latinos and 40 percent of blacks, according to Public Schools of North Carolina.
Beacons of opportunity
Officials at historically black colleges are placing ads in local Spanish publications, visiting predominantly Latino high schools and creating campus family days because Latinos tend to favor family unity.
But it's hard to find students proficient in English, said Benny Smith, JCSU spokesman.
"That's why we haven't done a lot of ads in the Latino community," he said. "We think it'll be a barrier, but not (one) we can't overcome."
The university has language labs that can help, he added.
Not offering ESL courses is a big drawback, said María Teresa Palmer, director of minority student affairs at N.C. A&T.
"I have people who are qualified for A&T, really smart students, but their English isn't up to par," she said, referring to a Colombian high school student who takes Advanced Placement Calculus and ESL.
As communities change demographically, so do universities. In some historically black colleges, like Lincoln University in Missouri, blacks are no longer the majority.
It's not something to lament, said Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund. Historically black colleges still have the same mission.
"They have a history of serving the under-served, whether that be African American or Native American, and now it may be Latino American," he said. "That makes them in many ways beacons for educational opportunities."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dánica Coto: 704-358-5065.
Black colleges recruit Latinos
Numbers small but growing
DÁNICA COTO
dcoto@charlotteobserver.com
The question, without fail, comes up when Henry Muñoz-López drives his car or wears a sweatshirt with the N.C. A&T State University logo on it.
What's it like for someone like you to go there?
What they're really asking is, What's it like for a Latino to go to a historically black college?
It's become a more common question.
Muñoz-López is still the minority within a minority, but the demographics are shifting.
Historically black colleges in North Carolina and across the country are stepping up recruitment of Latinos, seizing on what officials call an untapped market.
"They're opening their corridors saying, `We understand. We'll help you walk the path,' " said Alice García, hired last month to recruit Latinos for Winston-Salem State University.
But not everyone embraces the change.
Some believe recruiting Latinos will make it harder for black students to get into colleges whose original mission was to educate them and provide a sense of identity and heritage.
"African Americans are going to have to work harder at getting their kids ready for college," said Frank Matthews, publisher of Diverse Issues in Higher Education, a national magazine that reports on minority education trends. "If they don't, they're going to get locked out. I can't say whether it's fair or not, but it's the reality."
Historically black colleges are excluding African Americans by recruiting Latinos and whites, said Rufus Spears, 75, an alum of Charlotte's Johnson C. Smith University.
"I grew up when Charlotte-Mecklenburg was totally segregated," Spears said. "I can remember the signs that said `colored' and `white.' Opportunities were not given to us."
`Well, I'm here.'
When García recruits for Winston-Salem State, she says most Latinos tell her, " `I thought that was a historically black college.' "She replies, "Well, I'm here. We need people who are going to take that step."
And they have.
The Latino population has almost tripled at Winston-Salem State in the past eight years; about 50 of the 5,650 students are Latino. N.C. A&T, with 11,000 students, saw Latinos grow from 29 to 91 in the past eight years. N.C. Central University, with 8,675 students, has 143 Latinos this year, compared with 40 in 1999.
Johnson C. Smith University, meanwhile, is starting to recruit Latinos this year, placing ads in the Spanish Yellow Pages. Two Latinos are enrolled now, and fewer than 10 have attended in the past eight years.
Yearly tuition at public, historically black colleges nationwide costs more than $15,000, a bit less than it would cost at other public colleges, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
What's behind the trend
Recruiting Latinos is touted as a way to diversify the student body, but it's also driven by the numbers.
Tomikia LeGrande, interim director of undergraduate admissions at Winston-Salem State, can rattle them off by memory: In 2002, only 2 percent of N.C. high school graduates were Hispanic. By 2018, 33 percent will be Hispanic, she predicts.
National numbers reveal the same trend. From 2004 to 2015, there'll be a 42 percent jump in college enrollment among Latinos, with an estimated 2.6 million enrolled by 2015, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
With more blacks choosing other schools, historically black colleges are struggling to attract students, education experts say. Latinos have become the ideal target, Matthews said.
"No one's going to build colleges for Hispanics the way they built colleges for black folk 130 years ago," he said. "You can't get them into white colleges because of the test scores, so they're going to go to black colleges."
In North Carolina, whites have consistently scored higher on yearly reading and math tests than Latinos or blacks. Last year, 73 percent of white high school students passed the end-of-year state test, compared with 49 percent of Latinos and 40 percent of blacks, according to Public Schools of North Carolina.
Beacons of opportunity
Officials at historically black colleges are placing ads in local Spanish publications, visiting predominantly Latino high schools and creating campus family days because Latinos tend to favor family unity.
But it's hard to find students proficient in English, said Benny Smith, JCSU spokesman.
"That's why we haven't done a lot of ads in the Latino community," he said. "We think it'll be a barrier, but not (one) we can't overcome."
The university has language labs that can help, he added.
Not offering ESL courses is a big drawback, said María Teresa Palmer, director of minority student affairs at N.C. A&T.
"I have people who are qualified for A&T, really smart students, but their English isn't up to par," she said, referring to a Colombian high school student who takes Advanced Placement Calculus and ESL.
As communities change demographically, so do universities. In some historically black colleges, like Lincoln University in Missouri, blacks are no longer the majority.
It's not something to lament, said Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund. Historically black colleges still have the same mission.
"They have a history of serving the under-served, whether that be African American or Native American, and now it may be Latino American," he said. "That makes them in many ways beacons for educational opportunities."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dánica Coto: 704-358-5065.
