by Julieta Ramirez
Staff Writer
The results of last semester’s American College Testing Student Opinion Survey are in, and the University of La Verne is again topping the charts in diversity on campus.
The ACT Student Opinion Survey has been presented to a sample of ULV students every year since 1986. The purpose of the survey is to identify and reveal the University’s strengths and weaknesses as compared to the national average.
There were 375 morning class students surveyed last fall.
Student responses indicated that racial diversity on ULV’s campus is significantly better than the national average for four-year private colleges and universities.
“Size has a lot to do with it,” said Harvel Lewis, coordinator of minority student affairs. “With a school as small as La Verne, you can’t help but associate with other cultures.”
In addition, 22 percent of the students surveyed were listed as Mexican American/Chicano, as opposed to only 2 percent in the national average.
Asian American/Asian La Verne students totaled 15 percent at ULV, compared to only 4 percent nationwide. Likewise, American Indian was selected by 4 percent of students, unlike the 2 percent from the other universities polled.
“What we have to consider is our outlining area,” said Lewis. “We have a little United Nations here.”
Another percentile revealed that 46 percent of the students surveyed were Caucasian, well below the national average of 82 percent.
However, the University’s status is not above average across the board. African American students at ULV ranked 2 percent lower than the national average of 10 percent.
“I know for a fact that six years ago, this campus had at least 12 to 14 percent black students overall. It has dropped considerably,” Lewis said.
The survey also revealed that although Asian Americans are one of the fastest-growing demographic segments in the area, they are more likely than others to express an intention to transfer away from ULV before graduation.
“This is definitely something to be looked into,” said Lewis.
“ULV tries to provide the support and feeling of inclusiveness to our minority students,” said Lewis. “I prefer their decision to be based on the curriculum, rather than a social issue.”
Furthermore, the survey disclosed that ULV freshmen were four to five times as likely as their national counterparts to have spoken a language other than English at home in the year before attending college.
This result, according to the survey, directly reflects the large number of Mexican American/Latino and Asian American/Asian students at ULV.
“As a whole, we’re doing a really good job, but we can’t get comfortable with that,” said Lewis. “As long as we keep the understanding, tolerance and inclusiveness, we are way ahead of the game.”
Lewis also elaborated on what the University can do to even out these marks.
“Trying to cover many cultures is a challenge, but a very worthwhile one nevertheless. I’d like to ask a lot of whys and I’d like to see more African Americans on campus,” she said. “Once we’ve exhausted the whys, then you go ahead and work with the students you do have.”
