Campus still sees room for improvement

Walking through the Pit, anyone can see that there is a variety of ethnicities represented on campus.

But just how integrated these students actually are is another issue entirely.

Fifty years ago, the first three black undergraduates enrolled at UNC. Since then, the number of nonwhite students has increased to about 25 percent.

Last year, the Chancellor's Task Force on Diversity conducted extensive studies on integration and diversity. They concluded that the University has made large strides since the 1950s, but more can be done.

One of the results from the task force's findings was the creation of the associate provost for diversity and multicultural affairs position, now held by Archie Ervin.

Ervin will lead the University's commitment to diversity and integration in the future.

"I think what you find on our campus is an openness to differences with cross-races," Ervin says.

As more minorities joined the campus environment, the scope of diversity evolved.

Virginia Carson, director of Campus Y, attended UNC from 1967 to 1971. Her continued connection with the University has allowed her to observe integration progress.

When Carson was a student, the number of black students was still fairly small, she says. That number has increased since 1971.

"The change is significant," she says. "That has certainly made a difference, all for the better."

Carson says that although she is not aware of relationships and feelings among the current student population, she has noticed areas where diversity is lacking.

"I wish there were more faculty and senior staff people of color," she says. "I think that's a real issue."

Junior Aaron Charlop-Powers, co-chairman of Students for the Advancement of Race Relations, says the University has a long way to come with the battle of integration.

Walking on campus, Charlop-Powers says he notices that many students associate with students of similar backgrounds.

"Who hangs out with whom is telling, in my eyes," he says.

In an effort to raise awareness of diversity issues, Charlop-Powers and his co-chairman, senior Clayton Perry, are organizing the annual Race Relations Week in October.

As far as the progress in integration, Charlop-Powers says he finds it difficult to evaluate.

"I think we like to say we're integrated and diverse," he says. "These words are a very easy cop-out to help us sleep well at night. It's very much a myth."

Carson says the University needs to face the facts head-on.

"I don't think a real community is built on false impressions," she says. "There are issues we need to deal with both in the past and present to be the kind of community we need to be."

Perry says institutions such as the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History have helped foster dialogue on race issues.

"The presence of the Stone Center allows people to view social and cultural issues from a previously unrepresented perspective."

Brandon Hodges, president of the Black Student Movement, said the organization will strive to end stereotypes and cement integration.

"I definitely feel we've made a lot of progress, and those first students would be proud," he says about the first black UNC undergraduates. "But we need to do more."

Hodges, a business major, says he has observed few black students in the Kenan-Flagler Business School or in the School of Public Health.

The University needs to focus on specific areas to foster diversity, he says. "We need increased efforts for minorities in these fields."

Sophomore Stephanie Chen, a Chinese-American, doesn't think it's a problem that she is a member of a vastly white campus organization.

"I don't really see myself as different," says Chen, a member of a Panhellenic sorority. "They're just my friends. People don't treat me differently. There's no reason to stereotype a group."

She says she is pleased with the status of diversity on campus.

"You always see different races and you can see the organizations that have formed on campus for people interested in other cultures," she says.

Opinions on the current level of integration vary, but the University plans to pursue goals toward increased diversity, Ervin says.

"The more that we discover and become aware of differences that we have as unique individuals, the better off we are."

 

Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.