Since 2009, Dr. Charles F. Robinson, vice chancellor for diversity and community, has dedicated his work to the evolution of diversity affairs at the University of Arkansas to attract underrepresented students and to help them succeed in college and beyond.
Diversity Affairs focuses on three areas: recruitment of underrepresented students; retention of underrepresented students; and multicultural education. The Diversity Affairs team provides those services to the University of Arkansas campus and supports communities throughout the state. Several on-campus units report to Diversity Affairs, including the Center for Multicultural and Diversity Education; College Access Initiative; the Office of Latino Academic Advancement and Community Relations; the Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance; Student Support Services; Talent Search; Upward Bound; and Veterans Upward Bound.
“We’re still small compared to Student Services,” Robinson said. “We are a confederation of units dedicated to common causes.”
Robinson said it’s important to have a Diversity Affairs office because otherwise you’re not speaking to everybody. You’re speaking to the white middle class and upper class communities, not socioeconomically diverse or first-generation communities, he said.
“I don’t see how you can be a state flagship and not speak to all members of the state, Robinson said. “I think our voice is critical to fulfilling the university’s mission of educating students and being the economic engine for the state.”
Luis Restrepo, assistant vice chancellor for diversity and community, pointed out two realities: the changing demographics of the United States. This year, he said, the majority of public high school students in the nation are from underrepresented groups for the first time in American history.
The second is globalization, he added. “We are so much connected into a wider world that we really need to understand the value of working with people from different backgrounds.”
One of the main goals for Diversity Affairs is making sure underserved students across the state have resources available to prepare for their education through the College Access Initiative.
Through the initiative, a team travels the state during the summer conducting college readiness training. Robinson said ACT scores for underrepresented students, especially African Americans, are significantly lower. “It doesn’t mean these students don’t have the same ability. It’s often tied to socioeconomic realities in those communities. For example, many African American students take the ACT one time placing themselves at a disadvantage,” said.
The College Access Initiative’s goal is to improve ACT testing frequency and performance among Arkansas high school students representing underserved populations and communities, and ultimately to increase college access, readiness and retention through outreach programming and partnerships with schools, community groups and educational organizations and through mentoring programs for college students.
Leslie Yingling, now director of the Center for Multicultural and Diversity Education and previous director of the College Access Initiative, said the university has a very good rate of return of students who go through the summer programs and do attend the U of A. The staff does significant follow-up and keeps in touch with the students – even those who don’t come to the U of A.
“The demand for what’s offered is very strong and we are growing,” Robinson said. “We are going to add personnel and a new northeastern Arkansas initiative.”
“We are doing this work because we value those students; we value diversity and not as a matter of quotas,” Yingling said. “In fact we have exceeded our goals. It’s a matter of truly valuing what the students offer. We want to grow and we want to improve. Sometimes scores don’t reveal the students’ true capabilities. They probably would have higher ACT scores by taking it more than one time or having more support from their schools.”
“We know we’re providing a great benefit to the students, the university, the state,” Robinson added. “The numbers suggest we’re ahead of our 2021 goals of getting 20 percent of the student population as diverse, and we’re a little over 18 percent in 2014.”
Restrepo added that it’s also important to understand different cultures. For example, in Northwest Arkansas the culture is to send Latino students to community colleges, often because it’s less expensive. Also, a national trend shows that sometimes parents want their children to stay home because their culture is for the family to stay together, he added. Sometimes students are resented if they go far away. Restrepo said they are working with counselors and students and their parents to explain that even though a university might be more expensive and more rigorous, the students will get more out of it.
Once the students arrive on campus, the Center for Multicultural and Diversity Education serves as both an academic and social resource for them. It’s a place for students to hang out between classes while getting support to make sure they succeed in classes.
“The academic center is more than a social center to emphasize students coming there to learn and connect with the academic support that’s there and tutorial support,” said Brande Flack, associate director.
The center also provides networking opportunities for students, often taking them to campus and community events. “You’ll rarely see one of our staff members without a student by our side,” Flack said.
Those networking skills also help students succeed in finding jobs after college. Diversity Affairs works closely with companies and nonprofits, especially those who are looking to increase diversity in their workforce.
“We are in constant dialogue about how we can create opportunities for our students, whether that is with internships or resource support from corporations or private individuals,” Robinson said. “We are very much engaged with creating in alliances with the corporate communities and supported with corporate and private gifts. I think we have a message that people embrace and that is that we want to help young people help themselves.”
Restrepo added that they also work together with the Wal-Mart Hispanic Latino Resource Group and have many relationships with organizations such as the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Hispanic Women’s Organization.
The Diversity Affairs staff said the success of these programs would not be possible without their university partnerships and resources, including the Black Alumni Society.
“I’m really proud of this team, Robinson said. “I’m proud of the people I work with. The success I’ve had is because of them. They work really hard. They give me the credit. They say ‘It’s Dr. Robinson in Diversity Affairs,’ but I never hesitate to tell the chancellor or the provost that these folks behind me are the people who make the difference. I’m here to make sure they have the resources that they need and the advocacy they need to be successful.
“But the best is yet to come. Diversity Affairs is just an infant. It’s going to become more powerful and more influential confederation of units in the future. The best is yet to come.”
