The Conversation Continues, part three of a semester-long program theme sponsored by Multicultural Student Services was geared toward encouraging conversation about creating and maintaining diversity on campus. The open forum was held March 3 at the Garrett Cultural Center.
According to Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management Justin Ball, eight to 11 percent of accepted multicultural students are enrolled at Bradley. Ball said he wanted to know what kind of recruitment efforts Bradley Admissions can put forth into creating a more diverse student body.
“We go out to some very specialized programs where we know there are high achieving, diverse students who are like Bradley students and are academically prepared for Bradley education,” Ball said.
He said some of these programs include 100 Black Men College Fairs, Chicago Scholars, LGBTQ National Pride Fair, National Hispanic Institutes College Fairs, NASFA Fair and the Peoria Black Expo.
During Ball’s presentation, he described other programs on campus that are used to recruit diverse students. Ball specifically highlighted the Multicultural Overnight Program, which allows multicultural students to visit campus and attend specialized events that display the different multicultural organizations and services Bradley has to offer.
Before beginning the open forum, Ball prompted the audience to ask themselves what attracted them to Bradley. The majority of factors students mentioned were financial aid, a small campus environment, class sizes and student-professor relationships.
Ball also opened the forum to discussion about features of the Garrett Cultural Center and Bradley diversity.
“When I came here as a freshman, we didn’t have the peer mentoring program,” senior psychology major Chanel Moton said. “So for me, it was kind of hard to find someone who was like me, who was my skin color and who was interested in the same activities as me. Now, looking back, I feel like [the mentoring program] is something we can push to get minority and multicultural students here.”
Ball also explained that efforts are being made to get this type of information out to students prior to orientation.
Multicultural Student Services is rebranding with a name change that will take effect summer 2015. The name will be changed to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
“My take on it is to give us a new opportunity to connect with students,” Interim Director of Multicultural Student Services Norris Chase said. “When you hear about Multicultural Student Services, [the name is long]. In addition to that, there’s a certain brand and a certain opportunity that we haven’t capitalized on with that name. Plus, when you think of diversity inclusion, it’s a very wide responsibility of making students feel welcome on campus and aware of the different opportunities on campus for diverse students.”
Concerns were raised at the forum about making the Garrett Cultural Center a key part of the on-campus tour.
“I don’t remember at orientation being introduced to the [Garrett Cultural Center],” senior cellular molecular major and religious studies minor Deanna Wellere said. “Not even when they had tours on campus [did anyone spend time] introducing the space and actually telling students what we utilize it for.”
According to Ball, details about the Garrett Cultural Center are included in the prompt for the on-campus tour guides, and they are encouraged to make a stop there if possible. However, one Student Admissions Representative (STAR) said she never received such training.
“Maybe I missed a day, but I was not aware of this training at all,” sophomore psychology major Briana Mathews said. “I think it would be great because we can talk about greek life and the fun things, but if a black, Latino or multicultural family ask, ‘Oh, what do minorities do on campus?’ I feel like our STARs are not prepared, if they are not multicultural, to answer this question.”
Mathews also brought up the importance of maintaining true diversity in the STARs program so multicultural students can get in touch with other diverse students on campus.
“It would be great if some of the STARs were not only diverse in color but diverse in the stuff they do on campus,” Mathews said. “Get somebody from A.L.A.S. or ESA who are in touch with the multicultural community. Just because they are black or another race does not mean they are in touch with the multicultural services.”
In response, Ball said efforts are being made to hire more STARs.
“I can’t hire you if you don’t apply, and I can’t say that enough,” he said.
