In Black America; Black Student Retention with Dr. Gloria Dickinson

Subscribe now, and I'm gonna do it music free on YouTube, and that's good. I hope you cam in, and enjoy this song, definitely. Or to tag my time butt off, and watch the next one. From the Longhorn Radio Network, the University of Texas at Austin, this is In Black America. I have reviewed all credentials and submissions, and I can hardly wait for this conference to get underway, because Dr. Clanita Ford, my personal friend and professional mentor, has continued the tradition of identifying problems and providing solutions to the same in a time

lamana. For your insight and wisdom, Dr. Ford, thank you. Vivian Hobbs, Assistant Professor of Humanities, Florida A&M University. African Americans have had extreme difficulty maneuvering through the American educational system. Ever since the 17th century, when the first legal restrictions were enacted against Africans, being educated in this country. In 1983, Dr. Clanita A Ford and Florida A&M University devised a special model for institutional strategies to increase student retention. Although many were concerned about African American student retention, there wasn't a national form that specifically addressed the problem. The first conference was designed to address the concerns of historically black colleges and universities regarding the declining participation of African American students in higher education. I'm John L. Hanson Jr. and welcome to another edition of In Black America. This week, we continue our focus on the impact of cultural differences on the educational experiences of a minority students, but Dr. Gloria Dickinson, In Black America.

This conference is just a little bit different from some of the others, and in fact, we never had two just alike. We provided you with some pre-conference tours, and there are some that are going on during the conference, not during the sessions, but during the days of the conference. We are featuring our concurrent sessions, and we had a number of papers to share that we had to open up an additional concurrent sessions. So those of you who have been with us previously know we've always had eight, and this year, we have nine. We always encourage student participation, and I don't know if they are here, but we had quite a pre-registration of students. Our students here, well, the students please stand. They haven't gotten here yet, but we've got quite a sand there, some, right, okay? And I know, just the University of Kansas was sent in nine, and we even have two students

from University of Alaska. I see them here there, here, so we're getting them from every place, and we certainly enjoyed it. We have students who are presenting papers, and I've made note of that in the conference book. Do support them with that, and they're having a student panel on Saturday as well as the workshop on Friday. One of the major issues facing college administrators is the changing demographics in our society. How to manage it, and its expected impact on the social cultural environment of colleges and universities. Colleges of the 90s and beyond will be welcoming students who are linguistically, economically, and racially different from what has been the American norm of majority campuses. As a result, students and faculty will be struggling to coexist with the newfound changing diversity and orientation. In this week's program, we continue our focus on the impact of cultural differences on the education of experiences of minority students, but Dr. Gloria Dickinson, chairperson, African-American

studies, Trenton State College, Dr. Gloria Dickinson. I'd like to take a few minutes to talk about ways in which we can use cultural identity to enhance student retention. One of the reasons why this conference came into being and continues to exist is because we know that there are many programs throughout the country that purport to be about retention that don't work. One of the ways that people can find out about those programs that do work and have been successful is by attending the retention conference and having the opportunity to network with people from throughout the country who have developed models and strategies that we find have been effective. However, the question still remains, how can cultural differences be used to positively impact upon the retention of African diaspora students?

Cultural identity and or the lack thereof impacts retention at each step of the process. I would assert that the answer to this question is twofold because the endeavor itself has dual components. The first part of the problem, if you will, in terms of using cultural identity is the agenda for parents, students, mentors, guidance counselors, working during those last two years of high school to identify an institution. The second component is what we as educators, administrators can do within the context of our own institutions. When we look at part one, I think the first thing that we have to understand is that it's very important for us to make sure that students identify schools that value and respect the importance of African-centered curricular and co-curricular initiatives because we know

that the schools that have implemented programs that are serious, that have a viable academic component, that have a realistic student support component, are the ones on the campuses that today show the best records in terms of retaining African-American students. If we review the literature that's available, we note that the ever-increasing number of guides specifically targeted to African-American audiences continues to proliferate. I would urge that these guides be used in concert with their mainstream predecessors such as Fisk's or Barron's, but that they also be used very judiciously and with caution. It is to the institution's advantage to foster the illusion of successful diversity initiatives, and in many instances it is the office of college relations or public relations that forwards

the information that we end up finding in these guides. In her introduction to the 1993 publication, the 100 best colleges and universities for African-American students, Eileen Wilson, the compiler notes, quote, the majority of this country's more than 1 million African-American college students are attending predominantly white institutions, and the competition for these students is fierce. She further notes that readers should, quote, know that many colleges and universities are attempting to attract African-Americans to their schools with offers of money and special programs that are often difficult to resist. Nevertheless, students' selection should be based on a number of factors, including the academic programs at the institution, campus environment for African-Americans, the existence of academic support and counseling programs, the interest of faculty and staff,

special social and cultural activities, and finally the overall climate of racial understanding and tolerance. She notes that it is the existence of these types of initiatives that have been a part of the resurgence in enrollments and demands for positions in historically black colleges and universities that we have observed over the past five years in particular. Now I offer two examples of my assertions regarding the fact that institutions have vested interests and that in working at the pre-college stage we ought to be very careful. And I use Wilson's listing of Trenton State College as my first example. She compiled the book by contacting college relations offices. No one on our campus in the minority staff or faculty knew that the college had been contacted or selected as one of the 100 best institutions

until the book was published and we received notification from the office of college relations. None of the black faculty and staff were contacted. None of the black students were contacted. The information was taken from the institution's printed documents and she says in the introduction, the methodology she used for compiling the entire book. So two of the more interesting notations, percentage of African-American graduates not available, prominent African-American graduates not available. Had they contacted some of us, we could have given them a rather lengthy list of prominent African-American graduates including one young woman who is an attorney in Washington DC and one of the few black women in this country specializing in bonds. But the data collection mechanism was a tad faulty. I just use this as

an example to urge you to use the guides designed for black students in concert with the mainstream guides, but to also take a grain of salt with it. Now, another example, let us hope this works. Yes, this is the cover from one of the football programs this semester, University of Texas at Austin. Table of contents, which page eight, spotlight, and whoops, unfortunately that is upside down. This is its entitled campus camera. And the article is a focuses on Dr. Sheila Walker, who is the new director of the University of Texas's Center for Research on African and African-American Studies. She did not know that she was

going to be featured as she said in of all places the football program, but it was to the institutions advantage to give as much visibility as possible to the fact that she is now a part of the academic community. What people don't realize is that this is a research institute. She is not really teaching, but the impression that one gets from glancing at the football program, reading this article, which she told me has appeared in a number of other publications, not only in Austin, but throughout the state of Texas, is that there is a presence on that campus that is not necessarily what the printed material would lead us to believe. I say all of this to caution us to do what we all know how to do, and that is go back to the sources that have served us best throughout the generations, and that is the oral

traditions of the black community. Ask people. Ask fine black students on the campus, search out black faculty and staff and administrators, and ask them, is this a supportive environment? It may be supportive for one type of student and not supportive for another. For students who are particularly reticent, it might not be the right school for them. A more outgoing and gregarious student might find that he or she is in the right place. All I think that we need to remember is that we can't rely exclusively upon the printed documents, whether they are coming from external sources or they are in-house publications, and that we do have to use more innovative, investigative techniques and tactics when we attempt to identify those schools that do have curricular and

programs that are supportive to African American students. The second part of the answer to the question of how cultural differences can be used to positively impact upon the retention of African diaspora students, focuses upon the responsibilities that we in this room have. We know that retention varies in direct correlation to curricular and co-curricular initiatives. Two recent experiments at Historically Black Colleges, one at Tugulu, the other at Clark Atlanta, have shown that with a well-designed, academically sound African-centered curriculum in the freshman year, the retention rates can be dramatically impacted and affected. I had the opportunity to work on the textbook that is used in the Tugulu program. I've done some consultant work at Clark Atlanta

and have remained in contact with the people who are in charge of the retention program there. In both instances, what the institutions have found is something that we all know. Just because students are Black, it doesn't mean that they have an academic grounding in African or African American or African Caribbean or any other type of African diaspora studies. They by and large have been the products of a Eurocentric education. And we know that that means that you have a curriculum where Europe is at the center of, let's say Europe is the point of embarkation, use the example of the study of Columbus. Most of us learn the poem in 1492 Columbus, see all the ocean blue, et cetera, et cetera. The reality is you can't discover something that already exists. Lots of people had been here before Columbus.

That is not a viable or valid point at which to begin teaching American history. That does not negate the importance of the Columbus voyage or the fact that it changed the whole world. But it's not the beginning. If you were to use what we would call an Afrocentric or an African-centered approach, it would be to place things in chronological order. I'm not going to try and deal with all of the pedagogical issues in terms of definitions of Afrocentrism and Afrocentricity. I'm using a very literal definition at this point for these purposes. Afrocentric meaning African-centered, placing things in a chronology as opposed to Eurocentric meaning, European-centered, and using European contact with a people in a landmass as a point of beginning your study or discussion of this area of the world. It's my contention that a combination of curriculum initiatives and

student services infusions can increase student retention on majority campuses just as we have found that they have worked on the HBCU campuses. In Beyond Black Students and White Universities, Dr. Bruce Hare, who's a chairman of African-American studies at Syracuse University, points out one quote, it is important to stress the need for change in terminology used to refer to ethnically culturally differentiated groups of people. The term minority, for example, is laden with stereotypic images, the term forster's expectations of inability and pathology. It is also important to emphasize that this call for a pluralistic approach goes well beyond just another rejection of the Eurocentric bias that has traditionally dominated American education. We're calling here for a fundamental change in the university's self-image and a commensurate change in its educational and

curricular approach to the university's multi-ethnic student population. In our courses, our discourse, our program planning, our meetings, we have to remain vigilant in rejecting the marginalization that too often marks the resources allocated to African-American students and programs that pertain to students of color, and also programs initiatives that pertain to faculty and staff of color. We can look at a school like the University of Pennsylvania that has special housing, that has support programs, that has some of the top scholars in African and African-American studies in the country, that has a viable African-American studies program that sponsors seminars and lectures with real scholars who are doing real research as opposed to rhetoric additions. And what we find is that it is pen that has produced your student activists of the 90s.

It's a replay of exactly what we've seen in the past that those students who know who they are, who have a sense of their history, who understand the liberation struggle as it has existed throughout the world, and who understand that the study of people of African ancestry is not a marginalized activity. They are the ones whose consciousness seems to be raised first. We see the same thing happening at Howard University in terms of just a long tradition of activism and serious scholarship. The same model can serve as a guide to those of us who are on predominantly white campuses. With adequate funding, and I'd like to underline that about ten times, because that's what is debilitating most of our programs. The fact that we're asked to run a program on $1.99 while another comparable component of the institution is given a hundred times what you have in terms of dollars.

Why aren't you all doing the same thing? Well, we don't have the money. I think if we look at the campuses that have viable funding, that have serious scholarship, we can see that they have been able to retain their students because the students have indeed been in a supportive environment. I'd urge you all to read the last page of the November 4th Black Issues in higher ed, an article by Dr. Belitec Deressa, because she talks here not only about the importance of African centered studies to the curriculum, but also to the fact that we have to begin to look at a global initiative that is not just about people of African ancestry in trend. Or in North America, but that we're looking at a global initiative in terms of the scholarship, the research, the oppression, the responses to oppression.

And that one of the things we have an obligation to help students understand is that, quote, that they should be able to draw connections between people of color in Africa, the Americas, and throughout the world, so that they will be ready for the 21st century. We have an obligation to ensure that our students can discern the factual from the fictional. We were all very pleased with Spike Lee's school days and Cosby's a different world in the popularity that Black Colleges received as a result of those productions. Unfortunately, we have a lot of students who think that that's the reality. And we have an obligation to help them to understand that they need to know who they are so that they can cope with the realities of life in 1993. I refer you to the Philadelphia Inquirer September 16, 1993. Graduation rate among Black shows solid gain, subheading the pay gap with whites remained hot.

And the article goes on to look at the census data that shows us that although more and more African American students are graduating from college, the pay gap between they and their white counterparts continues to be substantial. Well, if students are not prepared for that reality, it can be devastating and they can just become dysfunctional. Part of the way that you prepare them is to help them to understand that racism is still a reality and that they have to be prepared to cope with that. I would also refer you. I don't know how many of you have seen this last week's Newsweek, the hidden rage of successful blacks. I think it's an article that we all need to not only read, but laminate, put next to your bed on your nightstand. I mean, this is a piece that I think will help us all to understand that we're not crazy, that we are part of a larger whole and that there are many, many other African Americans, professionals who feel the same way that we do.

We need to prepare our students for that. I urge all of you to keep the faith, continue to fight the good fight. I know that those of you who are on predominantly white campuses are fighting a very difficult battle and that we all face the same problems. I think we can look to the schools that have used African diaspora studies as a way of retaining students as a model to help us in our future plans. Dr. Gloria Dickerson, Chairperson, African American Studies, Tritten State College. Next week on in black America, we conclude our focus on the impact of cultural differences on the educational experiences of minority students with Dr. Caroline Louise Latterborn. The cultural differences on the educational black students is shockingly realistic and extremely tragic in a nation with such vast resources and intellect.

We as educators must understand that this crisis will not go over or be over in the next decade. It takes concentration at the elementary level, continuous through high school, before we could begin to address retention at the college level. Now you ask me the question, how do you address the crisis? Because the situation in education has reached the point of crisis, it becomes imperative that we begin to design and implement programs and strategies which will address the crisis at all levels. I was very pleased to hear Joe Marie Payton, a nobles now, say that her heart is with the elementary schools. While my heart is there too because as a professor in education, I go into the schools all the time. And certainly while working with retention on the college level, I say to myself, I see so much potential in those elementary and high schools.

But these kids have no hope of going to college. They look at me as if to say college is so far from what we have to do. While I tell them, we are here to work something out. We want to do what we can to help you. According to James P. Comer, Child Psychologist, and all of you have read the works of Alvin Hussain and Comer. Comer tells us that there must be collaboration between and among the people in the community, in particularly involvement of parents, teachers, as managers of the school, and not just as separate entities. Comer's approach to partnership is what I really want to talk with you about today in terms of retention on K through 12 so that we will have high school students. Comer's retention model in terms of partnership can be a blueprint of action for all of us.

I am especially pleased today to report to you that Duke University, my own institution, has implemented and assisted with several programs involved in the partnership approach. Some of these, and I'll be glad to discuss them at length with you, are as follows, a variety of house course projects. Programs, including like the Duke Durham Fellows, Fast Track, Chance, Elimu, the Minority Mentorship Program, Student Volunteer Services, the Honest Society, and any number of fraternal and sorority projects. Dr. Caroline Louise Lattermore, next week on In Black America. If you have a question or comment or suggestions asked in future in Black America programs, write us. I would like to thank Florida A&M University for their assistance in the production of this program.

Views and opinions expressed on this program are not necessarily those of this station or the University of Texas at Austin. Until we have the opportunity again for in Black America's technical producer, David Alvarez. I'm John L. Hanson, Jr. Please join us again next week. Cassette copies of this program are available and may be purchased by writing In Black America cassettes. Longhorn Radio Network, Communication Building B, UT Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712. That's In Black America cassettes, Longhorn Radio Network, Communication Building B, UT Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712. From the Center for Telecommunication Services, the University of Texas at Austin, this is the Longhorn Radio Network. I'm John L. Hanson, Jr. Join me this week on In Black America.

She talks here not only about the importance of African-centered studies to the curriculum, but also to the fact that we have to begin to look at a global initiative. The impact of cultural differences on the education experiences of minority students with Dr. Gloria Dickinson this week on in Black America.