Universities must make the effort to attract and retain minority students while the minorities are young, NIU President John LaTourette said Wednesday.

“Education is not seen as important in many minority communities. We need to intervene early so the right kind of role models and emphasis (on education) can be established,” LaTourette said.

The college graduation rate of minorities is dropping across the nation, stated the Dec. 9 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The chronicle stated more black males are not going to college because they are “worried about the costs of college and the shaky economy.” Black males are taking jobs or joining the armed forces, the chronicle stated.

LaTourette said minority populations are growing and the minority soon will become the majority. “Minorities will be a large part of the work force, and many are not educated to compete in the world economy—we’ll have increased unemployment, crime and public welfare.”

Programs have been started in schools to stress the importance of education, LaTourette said. He said the Talent Search program in Rockford starts at the sixth-grade level, and the Upward Bound program is targeted at high school students.

“These programs identify young people who are motivated to continue their educations. We need to push all the way down to the preschool level.”

NIU’s CHANCE program recruits minority students and provides support services during the first year of college, said program Director Leroy Mitchell. Non-minority students who do not meet academic requirements also can enter NIU through the CHANCE program. The graduation rate of CHANCE students has declined by one-third in the last six years.

Mitchell said counseling is an important part of CHANCE, but students often do not share problems during sessions. “The first year is crucial. Counselors call students if they haven’t come in for a few days—if we need to ‘harass’ students we will, until they do what they’re supposed to.”

Attitude plays a big part, Mitchell said. “At a large institution it’s easy to fall through the cracks and get lost. We try to get students through the first year in good standing, because then they feel better about themselves.”

Mitchell said the programs can work, “but everything must be in order. We can’t change 12 years of education in one year. Success is measured in different ways—we want all students to graduate, but it’s good if a student attends school for two years and gets a better job.”

LaTourette said special programs for education are funded by the state, and the money has not been available. “People have to choose to invest in education or in welfare and prisons.”

The Nov. 25 issue of the chronicle stated colleges “must make radical changes in structure, values, hiring practices and the way students are treated … to attract minority students and professors.” Black Studies Center Director Admasu Zike said active recruitment must be practiced.

“Ivy-league schools fly in potential students for a few days to make college more available. The schools found 80 to 90 percent of those students did enroll,” he said.

Zike said professors might make unintended remarks in class to alienate minority students. “Some professors aren’t sensitized about how to deal with minorities. They may use examples in class or refer to (minority) students in a certain way. Schools should have sensitizing sessions to inform professors (about these issues).”

Low minority enrollment and graduation rates are not confined to NIU, Zike said. “The problem is nationwide, and NIU is about average.

“Michigan State University produced a video called ‘Minorities in the College Classroom’ to help faculty deal with minorities. NIU’s Committee for Improvement of Undergraduate Education planned to get a copy of the video, but it hasn’t been done yet.”