OT: DMN - Black at SMU

[gostangs]

I get why he would go to MIT - and congrats on him getting in that fine school. But it doesn't really make sense to say he didn't apply to SMU, but did apply to OU and A&M - both schools with lower percentages of AA kids, and in the case of OU, proven on campus racism, and in the case of A&M very little available to AA kids in the city or the university community.

Not saying SMU doesn't have room to improve - all schools do. But there is nothing more negative about SMU for a AA kid then any other school, particularly private schools of about the same size.

Maybe the devil you don't know seems better than the one you do know, but A&M and OU have far less on campus support and community percentage wise than SMU.

[alyssa]

American Indians like me who know and live our cultures like I do are completely left out and misunderstood. It may not bother all American Indians who have lost their culture because of being stripped of it and made into Whites but ones like me are left out.
It happened to the few of us at Ivy schools too where people would ask us questions about our tomahawks and feathers and call us nasty names like the "S" word and "R" word and the like. I was asked how I got in to the schools too like I didn't belong. It was very lonely. I made close friends with one man 11 1/2 years older who had degrees from Case Western and Michigan State and had moved back to his home state. I would have left that U without my first degree if not for his friendship. I had no one to speak Choctaw or Chickasaw with either which is important to me. Even people on this board have been mean to me when it comes to race. I just see them for who they are and go on with life.

I have gotten a couple of people fired before when I was younger by making formal complaints and threatening with lawyers because of my rights being broken.

Three other family members attended my first university. Two transferred and one graduated.

[SMUer]

^^^That time you complain about being called "red*kin" while lamenting the sad fact your friends have been "made White"

European American, please, for consistency's sake.

-Signed a 1/8 Cherokee European American

[One Trick Pony]

I'm lonely misunderstood and I need extra love.
PAY ME

[smudubs]

I get why he would go to MIT - and congrats on him getting in that fine school. But it doesn't really make sense to say he didn't apply to SMU, but did apply to OU and A&M - both schools with lower percentages of AA kids, and in the case of OU, proven on campus racism, and in the case of A&M very little available to AA kids in the city or the university community.

Not saying SMU doesn't have room to improve - all schools do. But there is nothing more negative about SMU for a AA kid then any other school, particularly private schools of about the same size.

Maybe the devil you don't know seems better than the one you do know, but A&M and OU have far less on campus support and community percentage wise than SMU.

The answer to why he applied to OU and A&M is easy. Money and proximity to his girlfriend. Those schools have guaranteed scholarships for National Merit Finalists. He didn't want to go to either.

[dirtysouthpony]

I've been watching this for a while, and i have decided to take the plunge. My son was a Black student who walked on to the football team. His treatment as a student drastically improved when he joined the football team. He was regularly asked for id while walking around pre football. All of that changed when he joined the football team and wore football sweats. It was suddenly ok for him to walk around HP.

The atmosphere was fairly hostile. He was called the N word on a few occasions. But he toughed it out. He majored in pre law and flourished as a writer. He played football and simultaneously worked in the mailroom to pay his way at SMU. He got a great education, and he is now in the 1 year masters of business program at Duke. Dubs is right. Black students have a plethora of choices that are equal to or better than SMU. But guys, you have to stop with all of the racially insensitive stuff. Most of you are professionals, and i know you don't use this coded language on your jobs.

Kids are watching and making decisions based on these transgressions.

[RGV Pony]

I'll jump in too. It is a common theme, the fact that top line students have better, or perceived to be better, options than smu. Having lived in the valley, doing business there and having friends and family there, I've seen several instances where there is "dream school" (ivy league for example), and then aggy/texas/texas a&m, and then the safety school of what is now UTRGV. My niece, who happens to be latina, just graduated from what is considered one of the best high schools in Texas. While she got mail from smu, the schools that caught her eye that she visited, applied and got accepted to, were Georgetown, Notre Dame etc. She got $ offers from all, but ultimately wanted to stay in Texas and wound up 'settling' at incarnate word. She wanted to go to a private school..in Texas..

Im not sure if it's by design or an oversight or what have you, but smu doesn't seem to put itself out there - at least in that area- as some other schools.

[dirtysouthpony]

I agree with rgv. I live in Atlanta, and there are several peer schools that make more of.an effort on minority recruitment here. Wake, Miami, Tulane. TCU and Baylor also appear to be making more of an effort for minority recruitment in this area. There are several private schools in this area who are producing highly qualified prospects.

[BigT3x]

I went to SMU as an undergrad about a decade ago. I'm working on a graduate degree at SMU right now.

As an undergrad, I remember when my dorm celebrated black history month by ordering fried chicken from Bubba's. I'm white, but I went to public school in a diverse district. I saw that this was incredibly inappropriate, the black people in my dorm saw that it was incredibly inappropriate, the RAs didn't really understand what the issue was. I ate the fried chicken; the black people in the dorm ate the fried chicken. We understood that our RAs did not come of age in a diverse environment. They never learned how to interact with minorities. There's no malicious intent. They just don't know any better.

I'm a graduate student now and it's the age of Yik Yak. The ignorance of our undergraduates used to be a fairly localized affair. It's not anymore. You go onto the SMU Yik Yak and it's quite different than what you see at other schools. It's really racist. Is it their fault that they've come of age in an incredibly sheltered environment, have no empathy, and have no understanding of what's socially acceptable out in the real world? I'd still argue that no, there's no real malicious intent.

But... is this a problem the university should address? I think so. I think there are actions the university could take to try and instill more understanding into the typical SMU student. Increasing the minority population on campus, more cultural education, more programs to increase awareness... all of it will help our graduates function in the real world.

[Digetydog]

I'll jump in too. It is a common theme, the fact that top line students have better, or perceived to be better, options than smu. Having lived in the valley, doing business there and having friends and family there, I've seen several instances where there is "dream school" (ivy league for example), and then aggy/texas/texas a&m, and then the safety school of what is now UTRGV. My niece, who happens to be latina, just graduated from what is considered one of the best high schools in Texas. While she got mail from smu, the schools that caught her eye that she visited, applied and got accepted to, were Georgetown, Notre Dame etc. She got $ offers from all, but ultimately wanted to stay in Texas and wound up 'settling' at incarnate word. She wanted to go to a private school..in Texas..

Im not sure if it's by design or an oversight or what have you, but smu doesn't seem to put itself out there - at least in that area- as some other schools.

She is going to to love Incarnate Word.

[Rebel10]

I get why he would go to MIT - and congrats on him getting in that fine school. But it doesn't really make sense to say he didn't apply to SMU, but did apply to OU and A&M - both schools with lower percentages of AA kids, and in the case of OU, proven on campus racism, and in the case of A&M very little available to AA kids in the city or the university community.

Not saying SMU doesn't have room to improve - all schools do. But there is nothing more negative about SMU for a AA kid then any other school, particularly private schools of about the same size.

Maybe the devil you don't know seems better than the one you do know, but A&M and OU have far less on campus support and community percentage wise than SMU.

When you look at raw numbers then percentages don't really mean anything. At OU and A&M the numbers are better compared to SMU were there are only about 300 (which is about what is was in the 1980's) on blacks on campus. As far as proven racism is concerned SMUduds told us about how he and others were called racial slurs while at SMU. So that would be proven racism to me. But there are just more black people to fellowship with on those other campuses from a shear numbers prospective. Think about it only 52 (which was only 3.8% of the freshman class) enrolled at SMU. Just saying. Now with that being said if a black student can come to SMU and deal with the isolationism when they get out they are going to have one heck of an education and start in life.

[Bergermeister]

As an undergrad, I remember when my dorm celebrated black history month by ordering fried chicken from Bubba's. I'm white, but I went to public school in a diverse district. I saw that this was incredibly inappropriate, the black people in my dorm saw that it was incredibly inappropriate.

I've never known ordering fried chicken from Bubba's to be inappropriate - or incredibly inappropriate. Methodists are partial to fried chicken. It's FRIED CHICKEN.

[Rebel10]

As an undergrad, I remember when my dorm celebrated black history month by ordering fried chicken from Bubba's. I'm white, but I went to public school in a diverse district. I saw that this was incredibly inappropriate, the black people in my dorm saw that it was incredibly inappropriate.

I've never known ordering fried chicken from Bubba's to be inappropriate - or incredibly inappropriate. Methodists are partial to fried chicken. It's FRIED CHICKEN.

Fried chicken and watermelon stereotype. So to heck with what the black students concerns on the issues regarding that? Just blow them off and keep doing it?

[Rebel10]

On a sidenote, Baylor is a private school that seems to be doing better in reaching out.

http://www2.baylor.edu/baylorproud/2013 ... americans/

[smudubs]

On a sidenote, Baylor is a private school that seems to be doing better in reaching out.

http://www2.baylor.edu/baylorproud/2013 ... americans/

I've said this before, but of the Texas schools, SMU has done the most to get my son to apply.

And as to what can be done to get more minorities interested in SMU, I can and will post in this tread from time to time things that other schools do that I find interesting. For example. UT invited my son to a football game with it's black alumni association. That's something SMU could easily do. MIT has there campus preview weekend and emailed my son to inform him that the school will pay for his flight to attend that weekend. The following week they are having their "Black at MIT weekend" and has offered to pay for his flight to attend that weekend. MIT has a $12B endowment so I guess it can afford to pay for these things, but given the small number of non-athlete African-American students at SMU and the fact that most of them are local or within the state, I would think that is something SMU could do.