CU BOULDER MISSES MARK ON DIVERSITY
In May 1977, I was part of a group of students that took over Hellems Hall, protesting CU’s plan to eliminate the Educational Opportunity Program. At 19, I was forced to fight outside of the classroom for a chance to earn my degree inside the classroom.
Back then, there were about 800 Black students on a campus of 20,000. Today, the roughly 500 Black students on a campus of more than 30,000 feel as unwelcome now as we did then. Although CU Boulder’s official enrollment figures say that 2.7% of the student population is Black, many are skeptical of that number given that the school’s own diversity report shows that between 2009 and 2018 fewer than 500 Black students were enrolled every year.
That means Black Americans are about 1% of the student population, but 70% of the football team. CU finds a star athlete in the most remote community but ignores his sister the scientist, his brother the writer, his cousin the engineer.
A 2018 UCLA study exposed CU’s pattern of overlooking academically sound Black scholars in favor of lesser qualified private school
White students.
A CU administrator told me Boulder has a “do not visit” list of high schools that CU perceived as unable to afford the tuition. When I told the administrator that not all Black kids are poor, I was told to identify them, an outrageous and cynical response.
In 1970, Professors Richard Jessor, Charles Nilon, and others, in a report to the Faculty Council, recommended CU Boulder’s Black enrollment be 4%, reflecting the state’s population. Sadly, CU has never reached that modest goal.
The demonstration of CU’s intentions is evident in the paltry numbers of Black Americans on this campus, at every level. CU’s actions belie its volumes of words that pander to lofty goals. Any real plan must include a budget that reflects inclusive strategies and practices.
A former Regent once said that the Board lacked the commitment and the will to truly diversify the flagship campus. Do you have the will and the commitment now?
The time for excuses is over. Now is the time for action.
James Michael Brodie, Baltimore