Q
the minorities can have a part in
the educational opportunities
available at A&M. ”
Brown hopes the outreach
program will increase the pool
of students eligible to attend
college. And once there are
more eligible students, the
University can attract them
through scholarships and retain
them with the help of the
Multicultural Services Center.
C
ven if the black
and Hispanic students are
qualified to attend A&M, they
may not be able to afford higher
education. For this reason
certain scholarships are
available solely to minority
students.
Koldus says the scholarships,
the qualities of the academic
program and the student life
programs help attract students
to A&M. Once the students are
here they will recruit other
students, he says.
“The president and the
institution have put more
(University) money into
scholarships for minority
students,” Koldus says. “Also,
the president morally and
intellectually would like a
greater number of minority
students. ”
Brown says more minority
scholarships are available each
year. The biggest state schools
offer President’s Achievement
Awards, which give qualified
black and Hispanic students
$2,500 per year for four years.
These scholarships are only
awarded to students after they
have been accepted to the
University.
Connie Johnson, a senior
journalism major, is one
recipient of the scholarship.
“Some students feel like we
are given the money, ” Johnson
says. “But I had the grades and
a decent SAT score. I can say
that all of us have earned it. ”
It may appear that minority
students are getting special
attention, but Johnson believes
A&M is making up for lost time.
“We get special attention
now because for so long we
didn’t get anything,” Johnson
says.
&
ophomore
industrial engineering major
Mario Castro was awarded the
President’s Achievement Award
and he chose A&M because of
a Hispanic high school teacher.
“I was going to go to the
University of Texas at El Paso
and I talked to my teacher, ”
Castro says. “She told me there
was discrimination here and
that convinced me to come
here more. I decided to come
and try to change things. ”
Castro has seen progress and
is encouraging his sister to
transfer here next year. He
believes most minority students
do not go to college because
they have not taken the courses
necessary to be accepted.
“They may have only taken
three English courses and then
don’t meet the standards,”
Castro says. “Even if they are
really smart, they can’t get in.”
Carlos Craig, a senior
engineering technology major,
was also awarded the
President’s Achievement
Award. He chose A&M because
he wanted to attend a good
engineering school and stay in
Texas.
Senior journalism major
Anita Anderson was recruited
from an inner-city black high
school in Houston and came to
A&M only because of the
scholarship she was given.
“A&M doesn’t offer anything
socially, ” Anderson says. “It’s
great if you like to drink beer,
go to parties and watch football.
The only reason I stayed was
because I was on scholarship. ”
Anderson entered A&M in
1982, before the
implementation of the Texas
Plan to increase the enrollment.
Since that time, attempts have
been made to improve the
situation for the minorities who
attend.
/ Vevin Carreathers,
a former Student Activites
adviser, along with Koldus and
various students saw the need
for a centralized office for
minority students. The result of
these efforts was the
Multicultural Services Center,
which just opened at the
beginning of this semester.
Carreathers now serves as
coordinator of the center.
“The best thing we do is
provide an initial contact that
the students can have to find
out about everything else that
takes place on campus, ” -
Carreathers says. “Someone
has mentioned that it is a home
away from home for minority
students. ”
The main focus of the center
is on the retention rather than
the recruitment of minority
students. The center is
concerned with new student
enrollment, but it concentrates
most of its activities, which
consist mainly of counseling
and referral services, on the
students who are already
enrolled, Carreathers says.
“Our little joke with the
Office of School Relations is ‘if
you bring them here, we’ll keep
them here,’ ” he says. “We
have a very small role in