buzz buzz buzz ... March 19, 2001 What's the Buzz: on Diversity   Many people feel that Sonoma does not have a very ethnically diverse student population. It's true that we're not as ethnically diverse as we'd like to be, however there has been some improvement over the past decade, as well as some decline (see chart below) but we continue to strive toward a better balanced student body. Due to efforts to attract and retain students, faculty and staff of multi-ethnic backgrounds, we are statistically more diverse than the county in which the campus resides. Sonoma County, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, is 80% white (California, overall, is 50% white). SSU has a relatively small enrollment. In order to accurately view the University's ethnic diversity, it is important to look at percentages as opposed to headcount. Here's a comparison over the past decade of SSU student enrollment by ethnicity. Fall 2000 Fall 1990 Filipino 1.4% 0.6% Native American 0.9% 1.2% African American 2.2% 3.3% Mexican American 6.3% 3.3% Hispanic 3.2% 2.1% Asian 3.0% 3.4% Pacific Islander 0.5% 0.4% White 64.4% 75.0% Unknown / other 18.0% 10.7% (source: SSU_SERVER, Analytical Studies folder, Demographics folder)   It is interesting to look at the category of "unknown/other." Due to the fact that students must choose only one ethnic category on their CSU applications, multi-racial students often choose the category of "unknown" or "other." This is becoming increasingly true as the people of California become more ethnically mixed. For instance, according to a recent article in the Press Democrat, in the recent census, 1 in 20 people who identified as African American (1.76 million people) also checked at least one other race. Additionally, Hispanics (generally characterized as people whose ancestors are from any Spanish-speaking country) can be of any race, so a portion would likely also be counted as African American, white, Asian, Native Americans or other races. The percentage of people who reported themselves as Hispanic (in the 2000 census) grew by nearly 60% (from the 1990 census) surpassing by about 3 million what the Census Bureau had expected. The percentage of people who fit neatly into specific categories is decreasing which makes the category of "unknown" or "other" an even more important consideration in the picture of who attends Sonoma State University. Beginning with the federal census last year, more accurate categories, which will allow people to designate a mixed heritage, are being developed. While the categories will take some time to filter down, CSU applications will eventually be able to show a more accurate picture of the student body. In the meantime, SSU continues to encourage a diverse population of students to attend. Among other efforts, we: • Target outreach and recruitment activities in areas where ethnically diverse students go to school such as Pre-College Programs • Work to attract and retain first generation college students • Provide programs that are important to ethnically diverse students, such as the Educational Mentoring Teams, Intercultural Center programming, clubs and groups, and specific activities in the Residential Community • Actively recruit faculty and staff of diverse ethnic backgrounds who will serve as mentors for students • Developed a Campus Climate Committee to make recommendations to the President for actions that embrace and celebrate differences in ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability and religious affiliation. A survey will be sent out to the campus this semester. The Diversity Retreat that took place on March10 was well-attended and the topics of discussion were valuable to have at this point in the University's history. Provost Bernie Goldstein, who coordinated the Conference with Senate Chair Phil McGough, Senate Chair-Elect Rick Luttmann, and Director of Student Development Chuck Rhodes, along with a newly-developed steering committee, will continue to work with the campus community on diversity issues. More information will follow from them. To comment on the issue of diversity or get involved with steering committee efforts, e-mail Debra Hayes, debra.hayes@sonoma.edu in the Provost's Office.     For more information on source of statistics, contact rose.bruce@sonoma.edu   Back to What's the Buzz?