Diverse Students Gravitating To CWU

November 10, 2003

ELLENSBURG, Wash.-- At Central Washington University, all students are welcome and welcomed. That's not just lip service-it's our way of doing business, and one that's gaining attention from prospective students of all backgrounds, from throughout the state.

Founded as a public teacher's college in 1891, Central is today a comprehensive, four-year university and an emerging cultural center.

The transformation from Washington State Normal School to a multifaceted institution with an increasingly diverse student body and staff has not happened overnight. It has taken decades, and the challenges of attracting and properly serving diverse students persist.

Monica M. Medrano, a program coordinator for Central's Diversity Education Center, says the university is meeting the challenges head-on.

"Diverse students equal diverse needs," Medrano says. "Central is catching on. Simple acts, such as creating mixed-ethnicity residence halls or including menu items that suit the tastes of different cultures, really make a difference."

According to Medrano, the campuswide surge in multicultural awareness is benefiting the university's reputation. "People don't just look at us as a typical university anymore. They see that Central wants diverse students, so those students want to be here." Indeed, during the past three years, minority enrollment at Central has risen from 12.9 to 14.6 percent among undergraduates. Even more impressive are minority enrollment figures for graduate students-currently at 13.9 percent, up from 8.9 percent in 1997.

Mike Reilly, director of admissions, says the university has attracted minority students through targeted outreach efforts: "These have included having our current students of color conduct high school visits, do follow-up calls to applicants, and host receptions. Our students feel they are contributing to the increased diversity, which in turn creates a feeling of belonging."

Belonging, according to many minority students, is a chief determinant of the quality of their university experience. H.P. Powell, president of the CWU Black Student Union, reports that peoples' acceptance of minorities has improved:

"When I first came here, there was less interaction between me and other students. People were a little more timid about reaching out. This year, the school's atmosphere seems more cohesive."

Along with fitting in, bonding with other students of similar racial and ethnic backgrounds is important to Powell, he says. As one of the 1.9 percent of undergraduates at Central who are African American, he speaks with personal conviction.

"There's been an elevation in diversity since I arrived and more togetherness-a little more interaction among minority students," says Powell. "It's good to have that fellowship, to work toward a common cause."

This year's causes, says Powell, include reaching out to minority students in public schools and implementing more diverse cultural activities on campus.

While students are working to improve the cultural atmosphere of the university, others are working to implement programs that attract, cater to, and help retain minority students. One such program is CAMP, the College Assistance Migrant Program. Providing financial and academic support services to first-year students from migrant and seasonal farm-working backgrounds, CAMP is bridging the region's considerable migrant worker population to the university.

Participants get a good start on their education as well as access to career planning and cultural enrichment opportunities.

This year, CAMP, the Diversity Education Center, and the Center for Student Empowerment are conducting a pilot mentorship program focused on first-year underrepresented students. The program matches incoming students with established students who can show them the ropes during the first six weeks of school.

Leslie Webb, director of the Diversity Education Center, says the program aims to provide underrepresented students with social connections outside the classroom.

By engaging with other students early on, she says, "the new students persist in their studies, and they stay."

Clearly, cultivating diversity is a work in progress-an important job that the university has to undertake as a cohesive community. According to all reports, Central is getting the job done with pride.

"I'd like to see Central become even more diverse," says Powell. "It's happening."