1968 was the first year there were more than 15 black students who weren’t athletes on the University campus. Many of these students were part of Project 75, an initiative to bring in black, Latino and Native American students to campus for diversity.
“When we arrived on campus they weren’t ready for us,” said Carla Gary, who now serves as the assistant vice president of the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity.
Today, black students make up 2 percent of the University student population. Although this is a significant increase since Project 75, it illustrates how black students are still not as welcome as slogans of diversity would suggest.
“I can literally count on one hand the tenured black faculty,” said MeCherri Tarver, a graduate student at the University.
Tarver said the lack of faculty contributes to a virtually nonexistent support system for black students who have some culturally unique concerns.
Black faculty members are not just assets to black students, but they provide an alternative to the dominant white perspective for all students. When Project 75 arrived on campus, there were only two black professors, and they were bombarded with attention from all students.
“We overwhelmed them,” Gary said. “We were so hungry for an African-American presence.”
Gary said one professor in particular, Ed Coleman, put his job in jeopardy because he took so much time to help students of all colors.
According to Gary, having black faculty is essential to providing students with the real-life experience of interacting with people from different backgrounds, which is essential in an increasingly global economy.
“Students are tech competent but culturally unconscious,” Gary said. “Issues recognizing blacks specifically are intrinsically valuable to the institution.”
With the lack of understanding between races, black students often deal with the contrast between tolerance and actually feeling welcome on campus. Questions like, “What team do you play for?” or “Can I touch your hair?” may seem innocent until one realizes that the exchanges are one-sided — black students don’t automatically assume white students play sports, nor do they routinely walk up to total white strangers and run their hands through their hair.
Tarver, who is originally from Alabama, had to tell a person to get away from her when he started fondling her hair at a grocery store. She has been surprised by the racial dynamics of Eugene, specifically how some black people don’t even speak to each other.
She completed her undergraduate studies in Montevallo, Ala., where she said there was a strong sense of community among black students due in large part to the significant black population outside campus. At the University, there are a few groups that provide support for black students, such as the Black Student Union and the Office of Multicultural Academic Success, but there is little networking.
As long as black students are not plugged in to networks to leverage their voice, they will remain isolated and easier to discourage from feeling welcome at the University.
Some wonder if it’s time for another Project 75, especially considering the pushback against Affirmative Action measures from conservatives in Washington, D.C.
According to University President Richard Lariviere, the institution is adapting new policies to address diversity on campus, including appointing a new director of enrollment management, visiting more high schools in areas with higher concentrations of students of color and getting rid of automatic grade point average requirements, which favor students who attend privileged schools. He suggested judging potential incoming freshmen on the “capacity to succeed,” but is recruitment enough?
Convincing black students to come to a school where there are few black faces and the discussions on race are superficial at best is a tall order. These class dynamics make black students default representatives for their race. Often black students have to speak out more in class to address silent assumptions that they are there because of Affirmative Action or that they are athletes who have no interest in learning.
In order to create a welcoming environment, the University needs to have honest discussions on race where black students and faculty have their views taken seriously, especially if they differ from the dominant narrative.
Ultimately, the discussion comes down to resources. When students don’t feel welcome on campus, it hinders performance in the classroom. Although black individuals are achieving at the highest levels ever, the national black college graduation rate is still a mere 42 percent.
The goal is not simple integration but to provide equal footing in the education system for all students.
“Right now it’s dispersed but blacks are on the lower socioeconomic end,” Tarver said. “We never said we wanted your cultural attributes. I have my own culture and heritage. Just don’t deny me my resources.”
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