When Gene Shelton attended Kent State
as a JMC undergraduate 30 years ago, there were few students
of color. Now, as the School’s Academic Diversity Adviser,
Shelton says not much has changed.
"I’m a graduate student myself,
and just walking around Taylor Hall and looking in classes,
I see a few students of color,” he observes, “and
perhaps my eyes are looking primarily at African Americans,
but you don’t see that many.”
Journalism faculty and students alike have remarked on this diversity deficiency.
But despite efforts to involve more students from different ethnic and racial
backgrounds, progress has been moderate.
According to JMC accreditation reports, 69 minority students were in the program
in fall 1995, about 8.6 percent of the journalism school’s enrollment.
The School set a goal of increasing the number of minority students to at least
91 by 2002, but fell just short with 89 minority students.
The self-study goes on to say that the School’s minority enrollment percentages
are close to those of the university, but also reports that the majority of
students attending Kent State come from nearby counties that are overwhelmingly
white.
Scholastic Media Coordinator Candace Perkins Bowen
says the School has been trying to bring in a diverse group of high school
students through programs such as the Dow Jones Minority Workshop. But she
says newsroom and classroom professionals have only recently realized that
the best minority students aren’t going to spontaneously appear on
their doorsteps.
“Nobody looked at the
fact that kids make decisions really early,” she says, noting that
African American students, especially, tend to choose their majors as early
as eighth grade. “If you don’t get them in the pipeline early
with a good journalism program, you’re not going to get them. |
Click an image to
see the full-sized table:
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Shelton says many of the minority students who are in Kent State’s
journalism program come from urban high schools, where journalism classes
and school newspapers
are rare.
“There is some greatness out there among some of these inner city high
school students who just need an opportunity, but you have to champion that,” he
says.
JMC addresses
racial diversity in curriculum, classroom
Student media groups aim for diverse staff, coverage
Story
by Rekha Sharma
Photos by Sarah McCrory
Design by Paul Bucalo |
