SEMO TAKES UP MINORITY ISSUES

Southeast Missouri State University needs to hire more black faculty and staff, members of the school's Commission on Minority Affairs said Thursday.

Members also suggested the university:

-- Evaluate its faculty, staff and administrators on the issue of diversity.

-- Work with area high schools to better prepare black students for college.

Those were just some of the suggestions that surfaced during the inaugural meeting of the commission Thursday afternoon at the University Center.

The commission has 37 members, many of them from St. Louis. Twenty-eight of the members attended Thursday's session.

Among the no-shows were Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee and state Sen. J.B. "Jet" Banks of St. Louis.

Southeast president Dr. Dale Nitzschke appointed the commission to help the university in its efforts to boost minority enrollment. Nitzschke said the commission will meet twice a year.

Blacks make up about 4 percent of the student population at Southeast. Southeast has 328 black students enrolled this fall, up from 316 a year ago.

But that is still well below the fall 1992 enrollment level. That semester, 504 black students attended Southeast.

Nitzschke said diversity is important for the future economic and social wellbeing of the region, state and nation.

He said a university must be "a marketplace of values and ideas, enriched by a broad range of voices and opinions, enlivened by differences, and sustained by an environment of mutual respect."

School officials spent much of Thursday afternoon outlining the institution's enrollment history and future plans.

Dr. Rob Parrent, associate vice president for enrollment management, said Southeast wants to boost total enrollment to 10,300 by the year 2000.

The university wants to increase black enrollment within the next three years to 9.5 percent of the total student body. At the 10,300 level, that would amount to about 980 students.

Several black students spoke to the commission.

Tennille Wings, a junior from St. Louis, said the 1994 hazing death of Michael Davis and the negative publicity from that event continue to hamper efforts to recruit black students to Southeast.

Wings said the university offers few scholarships for minority students. Southeast often loses the recruitment battle to other colleges that offer more minority scholarships, she said.

"Why can't we get some money?" she asked.

Dr. SueAnn Strom, vice president of student affairs, said Southeast awarded $25,000 in scholarships to minority students this year. The money was divided among 16 students, with each receiving $500 to $2,000.

Freshman Mark Mosley said he would feel more comfortable at the university if it had more black students and professors.

Senior Monique Maxey told the commission that some faculty members made her feel unwelcome in the classroom.

Maxey, who is in her fifth year at Southeast, said a steady drop in black enrollment in recent years made her feel increasingly uneasy on campus.

"I started to feel more alienated," she said. "I started to feel bitter."

Maxey said she felt the university has a new commitment to diversity since Nitzschke was hired as the school's president last year.

But Maxey also questioned if the school was truly committed to diversity or simply wanted to boost black enrollment figures for statistical reasons.

Commission member and professional counselor Linda Vogelsang said she often advises black students who drop out of school. She said the students often feel isolated and homesick at Southeast.

"I feel the university has a long way to go to make this a comfortable environment for minority students," she said.

Commission member Pat Washington said, "It will do us no good just to put bodies here."

A former Southeast regent, Washington said the university must take steps to help black students succeed in school.

Commission member Karla Cooper is a graduate of Southeast. Cooper, who works for the Kennett School District, said the university in past years has had task forces that looked at promoting diversity and recruiting black students and staff.

"We've talked it to death," agreed Washington, who also graduated from Southeast.

In the Bootheel, Cooper said, the issues don't revolve just around race. "The major indicator is poverty," she said.