By Julie FrenchThe Daily Northwestern
Northwestern has the 10th-highest graduation rate for black undergraduates in the nation and also has increased black enrollment at the Law School, according a report by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. But students and administrators say they still would like to see improvements.
In 2006, 89 percent of black students graduated, up from 81 percent in 1998, according to the report. Black enrollment at the Law School also has increased from 47 students in 1997 to 53 in 2006.
Only eight high-ranking law schools posted greater improvements in percentage terms, and 18 of the top 30 posted declining black enrollments over the past 10 years.
New York, Vanderbilt and Duke universities’ law schools were among those that topped NU in the study.
At NU’s Law School, there is a shortage of black men especially, said Don Rebstock, associate dean for enrollment.
Nationally, black men are outnumbered two-to-one by black women as law students, and NU has only recently been able to counteract that trend, he said.
“We’ve really stepped up our effort to get more of them applying,” Rebstock said.
Fifteen black men, a record high, enrolled in fall 2006. The previous class had only five black men.
Rebstock attributes the increase over the past several years in part to the creation of the Office of Minority Affairs – now known as the Office of Diversity Education and Outreach – in the early 1990s.
“We were one of, if not the first law school to create an office of minority affairs,” he said. “We were able to create a reputation of it being a very positive place for diverse students to be.”
Steve Cade, who entered the Law School in 2005 with only four other black men, said this year’s larger class of black men has made a difference and shows the school is making a commitment to diversity.
Cade said when he first visited the school for his admissions interview, he was impressed by NU’s programming for Black History Month.
Now, as the president of the Black Law Students Association, he said diversity organizations receive ample support from the administration.
But some black undergraduates, such as Weinberg senior Michael Collins, said they feel less supported, despite the rising graduation rate.
Graduation rates for white students at NU are still 5 percentage points higher than for black students, according to the report. And over the long term, black undergraduate enrollment at NU declined from 9.6 percent in 1976 to 5.5 percent in 2005, according to a Daily analysis of university records.
Collins said he has at least seven black friends at NU who will not graduate with him this spring.
“When I see a number of people that I am friends with that started off with me having to leave, it becomes clear that there may not necessarily be the resources in place for them to succeed,” he said.
Collins said his high school, which was in a white, upper-middle class neighborhood, prepared him for NU’s challenging classes better than the high schools most of his black friends attended.
But there are resources for black students who are struggling academically, even if some students aren’t aware of them, said Shawna Cooper-Gibson, NU’s director of African American Student Affairs.
She said the tutoring and general writing workshops that Multicultural Student Affairs offers are used frequently.
Cooper-Gibson said she tries to watch out for any students who might be having difficulty with their workloads.
“A lot of academic deans do contact me when they see signs of trouble,” she said.
She helps students come up with an academic survival plan, which could include switching to a more compatible major, developing study habits or meeting with teaching assistants.
“The pieces are in place for the students to succeed here,” she said. But there will always be “those conundrums that you can’t really help.”
Reach Julie French at [email protected].
