Column: More than an athletic scandal

T he University is reeling from athletic scandals that have cast a national spotlight on the University’s poor academic support for student-athletes — and, more generally, for black men.

In 2009, black males represented only 3.6 percent of the student population but 55.3 percent of the basketball and football teams’ rosters.

In reaction to negative publicity surrounding the scandal, UNC invited Shaun Harper, an expert on black male college achievement, to deliver the keynote speech at the 2012 Forum on Minority Male Student Success.

In front of administrators and University power players, Harper delivered a stark condemnation of the University, demonstrating that the scandal was a symptom of a deeper institutional failing: Black men were 25.3 percent less likely to graduate in six years than the average student at UNC, a far larger gap than that of any other predominantly white public university in the state.

Race still presents a clear barrier to graduation for students of color at UNC. Trey Mangum, a senior from Roxboro and the president of Black Student Movement, confirmed as much.

“Because I am black, I already know when I come in I’m going to have to work harder than my peers,” he said.

Black men in particular face a disadvantage in higher education. Only 36 percent of African-Americans on college campuses around the country are men, an indication that the group faces achievement barriers well before college age. These barriers do not abdicate UNC of responsibility for its low retention and admission rates of black men.

“There is more that the greater University can do about minority male retention,” Mangum said. “It is one thing to make it a point to recruit diverse populations, but once they get here, make sure they stay here.”

Cynthia Demetriou, the director for retention in the Office of Undergraduate Education, said UNC is doing a good job of responding to Harper’s clarion call. In his speech, Harper proposed that UNC look to peer institutions to create strong retention initiatives.

Harper also called for UNC to give undergraduate men of color a real stake in the process. Demetriou agrees.

“(Students) have to be at the forefront because day-to-day lived experience influences performance,” she said.

Two years after Harper’s speech, neither initiatives based on best practices nor a strategic document have been produced. This itself is not a problem. UNC should be allowed to take time to properly develop these initiatives, as long as the issue does not fall by the wayside. After Harper’s speech, the University did appoint a coordinator of minority male mentoring and engagement, but it must not be allowed to rest on its laurels.

Mangum is cautiously optimistic about the future of black male enrollment at UNC. There are 119 black men in this year’s freshman class.

“Maybe next year there will be 130,” he said.

The challenge will be ensuring those same 119 students are in class here next August.