For Jasmine Frazier, a junior at Evanston Township High School, Northwestern has always seemed unattainable.
First she doubted that her grades were good enough. Then she worried that her family would be unable to afford NU’s $25,839 yearly tuition. And Frazier, who is black, said she worried NU lacked a vibrant black community.
But she said many of her doubts were erased Monday when she attended a presentation of NU’s black student outreach program, “On the Road with NU Possibilities,” with about 15 other black parents and students at Evanston’s Family Focus center.
After viewing a PowerPoint presentation by African American Student Outreach Coordinator Melda Potts and talking to current black NU students, Frazier said she would apply to NU.
“I enjoyed it,” she said. “I want to check out the campus. All I can do is apply; it’s up to them to choose whether I get in.”
Six months after launching the outreach program, Potts has visited seven black community groups in the Chicago area and said she’s noticed a slight increase in applications from black students this year.
“These are communities that we don’t normally recruit from,” Potts said. “‘On the Road’ gives me the opportunity to find a diamond in the rough.”
Potts said she does not expect the program to produce immediate results, but she hopes it will inspire younger black students to consider NU. Many local black students are unfamiliar with the application process and often do not have relatives who attended college, she said.
“We’re doing a service for the black community,” Potts said. “These students may not be eligible for Northwestern, but at least Northwestern took the time to talk to them about college. And if they’re not, maybe they have a brother or sister or cousin who is.”
‘A good place to go’
At Family Focus, 2010 Dewey Ave., students and their parents munched on chips and cookies and peppered Potts with questions about NU life. Some of the students present said they would now be more likely to attend NU.
“It seems so homey,” said Brittany Estell, an ETHS freshman. “From the presentation, it seems more what I was thinking about and looking for in a college. Now it seems like a good place for me to go.”
During her presentation, Potts interspersed SAT tips and application advice with pictures of black celebrities and NU students. She also gave the potential applicants information about extracurricular activities, tips for dealing with racism on campus and advice on college applications.
“Forget about modesty,” Potts said. “You’re trying to get into college. You’re trying to brag. Academics are not enough these days to get you in.”
After Potts’ presentation, three students from NU’s historically black Sigma Gamma Rho sorority performed a mini-step show for the group and answered questions about black community life.
Black students comprise about 7 percent of NU’s student body, and many parents asked the NU students whether they found a sense of community at the university.
“Northwestern needs to do a better job representing itself in communities of color,” said Alaina Jackson, a Sigma Gamma Rho member and Speech senior, in an interview Tuesday. “Many people of color don’t know about Northwestern and its rich history and all the opportunities here. Melda closes the gap of that impersonal relationship.”
Jackson told the audience that NU’s black community is small but active. Jackson, who is black, said she decided to come to NU after observing several minorities interact while walking around campus.
“It’s a tight-knit community full of resources for black students,” Jackson said. “I definitely wanted to see some of my people. That’s what made it hit home for me.”
Planting seeds
But despite the aggressive outreach efforts, Potts acknowledged that applications from black students are not likely to significantly increase any time soon.
Although she typically speaks to between 25 and 60 students at each outreach session, only about three high school students from each group have the grades and test scores high enough to gain admittance to NU, she said.
Potts said she sends those students a personal letter and application and tries to bring them to campus. She said she will bring a group of local students to NU next week to attend Black History Month events.
“It will change,” Potts said. “This is a planting-seeds endeavor. When I talk now to a seventh-grader, I know I won’t be seeing that student for four or five years.”
Suzette Speight, a member of Family Focus’ auxiliary council, said the outreach effort will help minority students realize that they can find a niche in a predominantly white college.
“It’s always hard when you’re a minority student at a majority institution,” Speight said. “There’s a lot of stress associated with being isolated. You feel like you don’t belong. Adjustment is always difficult.”
Kim Ross, teen parent services coordinator for Family Focus, said the outreach program plays a valuable role in encouraging local black students to attend college.
“The African-American community doesn’t have a lot of the resources,” Ross said. “Northwestern is saying that they are willing to come out and give them the resources. It’s a much better way to market (the university).”
‘DIVERSITY IS COMING’
Many of the participants said they found the program helpful but that NU still does not do enough to promote diversity.
“I don’t perceive Northwestern as a very diverse place,” Speight said. “(But) just like any other university, Northwestern knows that diversity is coming. Attracting a diverse pool of students and faculty feeds itself.”
Weinberg junior Cara Moore, also a member of Sigma Gamma Rho, said prospective black students often wonder whether they can fit into a mostly white college. When she speaks to prospective students, Moore said she tells them that they can find a place at NU.
“Minority students have specific concerns, especially when they consider going to a predominantly white institution,” Moore said. “A minority (college) student could talk to them about their concerns in a way that they could understand.”
