Minority Retention Committee aims to increase activity, involvement

Although the Minority Retention Committee has long been an established group at Emporia State, many members feel that it has become overlooked by much of the campus community.

“It has a great deal of potential that's never been realized,” said Ellen Hansen, associate professor of geography.

The Minority Retention Committee was established by the Faculty Senate over 10 years ago and has always been chaired by the vice president of academic affairs. Until recently, this position was held by John Schwenn, who relinquished his duties to become president of Dalton State College on March 1.

Besty Yanik, the interim associate vice president of academic affairs, now holds the committee chair. Yanik said that the group consists of both students and faculty members. Although she is still very new to the committee, Yanik was able to explain some of their key activities.

“I know they have considered such issues as conducting a survey on campus to assess diversity needs, consider initiatives that could increase attendance at diversity events, and explore the possibility of creating a global studies major,” Yanik said.

Hansen, who has been a member since fall of 2000, further explained the committee's intentions. Its main goals are to retain minority students on campus, make sure they graduate and help them find a place to feel comfortable.

Hansen explained that being a “minority” can mean several things including being a minority on campus or simply of a particular department. This term also includes females in a male dominated department and vice versa.

In the past, the committee has also worked closely with admissions to make sure that minority students are actively being recruited. Hansen explained that this is an important part of the process.

"We can't retain minority students if we're not recruiting them," Hansen said.

According to Hansen, they have also worked with the Muslim Student Association by joining in the creation of campus surveys designed to discover problems and strengths of the ESU minority population, in addition to learning about the needs of minority students. They have also proposed many ideas for programs that have not been recognized, such as one to encourage minority high school students to continue their education.

The committee tries to meet once a month during the school year. However, due to many schedule conflicts, there is no set meeting date and it is often difficult to find one that suits all.

Barbara Baker, director of Multicultural Affairs, said the committee is currently going through transitions. Members explained that the next meeting will be held to discuss the possible convergence of the committee with the Diversity Education Committee, a move that was suggested because the Minority Retention Committee has done so little lately.