I recently delivered a keynote speech at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s 2009 Diversity Forum during which I afflicted the comfortable on the question of “excellence vs. diversity” in college and university admissions. At that speech, I encouraged a generally receptive campus community to think broadly about the declining number of Black students enrolling in colleges and universities.
As I deliver speeches about the climate for campus diversity internationally I have begun to think more critically about the admissions process and the rapidly declining number of Black students in the admissions pool.
For purposes of this post, I will focus on the admissions of Black students at historically White institutions. I think that there is room for debate on whether the criteria used in making admissions decisions should be re-examined. And to the extent that colleges and universities make decisions to admit students who do not fit their admissions criteria, the time to worry about retention is at the time that the decision to admit such students is made, not after the students have arrived on campus.
