2008 Woodie Awards
University struggles with minority education
Steven Overly
Issue date: 2/20/07 Section: News
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The forum came three days after a meeting in which the University System of Maryland Board of Regents addressed a new report that details the plight of black males in higher education - a problem system officials have been trying to tackle for almost a decade. Though officials have promised to find a solution after this report, university President Dan Mote said this university has no plans to begin a program targeted specifically toward black males.
"The problem is so large and spans so many areas of our society and responsibilities in our society that it's very difficult to manage as a whole," Mote said in an interview after Friday's meeting. "There's no silver bullet for this problem. It's not a one-problem, one-program, one-idea kind of problem. There's just a lot of pieces to this."
A similar report was generated nearly a decade ago, regents said at the meeting, but no changes resulted from a review of those recommendations. But University System Chancellor Brit Kirwan said this evaluation will be different because regents have assigned a special task force with members who have expertise in the minority achievement gap to evaluate the report.
The report, released last month, found that the high price of higher education and inconsistency in the quality of K-12 education results in lower retention and graduation rates for black men, Kirwan said.
In an interview after the meeting, Mote said though this university has no plans to begin any programs specifically targeting black men, the idea wasn't out of the question.
"We have a lot of programs supporting people from disadvantaged circumstances and, of course, minority enrollment and diversity and all of these issues," Mote said.
The university's minority programs provide "a lot of opportunities to implement ideas," Mote said, adding that this university will work with the USM in developing initiatives that target black males.
Kirwan and Gov. Martin O'Malley were among the diversity forum's speakers, who reflected on their personal exposure to diversity and reiterated a need to fully integrate all races into the state's academic and non-academic communities.
"It won't be too many years from now when the graduating classes won't have a [racial] majority in the state of Maryland," Kirwan said in an interview after the forum. "I think the demographics of the situation are as clear as they could possibly be."
Improving minority access is vital to the state's future, officials said at the forum, because if the growing minority population doesn't receive an adequate higher education, the state's workforce will dwindle and the economy will suffer.
"At the end of the day, education is the key to unlock the god-given potential in every child, and in that unlocking of potential is our collective potential as a state," O'Malley said at the forum. "We still have far too many students who give up on [themselves] and who think that their government and their community gave up on them long ago."
O'Malley reminded the audience at yesterday's forum why such programs and other outreach efforts were necessary, saying that he hopes his $192 million increase in funding for higher education and need-based financial aid will lay the foundation for improved, broad-reaching education for minorities.
"You know, one of the beautiful things about this diverse state is that we all share the same hopes and dreams. In essence, we really do," O'Malley said at the forum. "We can reach them, but to advance that common good that so many before us have fought and sacrificed for, we still have a lot of work to do."
Contact reporter Steven Overly at overlydbk@gmail.com.
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