Friday, March 5, 2004 | 9:48 a.m.
Improving minority access to higher education was at the forefront of discussion at a community forum on education Thursday night at the West Las Vegas Arts Center.
University regents, legislators, state and local school board members and representatives from Nevada's colleges and universities discussed the barriers that prevent many minorities from entering and graduating from college.
The educational policy-makers zeroed in on two main areas of concern: the climate and the accountability of the education system in Nevada from kindergarten through college.
The consensus, as noted by Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas, was that many minorities never reach college because there is great inequity in the educational system from elementary school on.
Clark County School Board member Shirley Barber, who covers the same district as Williams, agreed, stressing the need for a welcoming environment for minority students and greater accountability for teachers to make sure all students are taught fundamentals.
Several panel and audience members made charges of institutional racism within the system, but primarily the concern was that teachers and professors are not properly trained to address the unique needs of minority students.
"It all comes back to how you teach teachers," Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said. "You have to sensitize teachers, you have to teach multi-culturalism."
Minority students often do not receive the same support and college counseling as other students, panel members said, and thus are not prepared to enter college. Some are not even taught what they need to pass the proficiency exam, much less college entrance exams, Giunchigliani and state board of education member Marcia Washington said.
The outreach programs that are available to these students typically start in high school, when it is often too late.
"We have to go back to junior high," said Shannon Ellis, vice president of student services at the University of Nevada, Reno. "They need to know their options and what they need to do early on."
But even when minority students reach college, their retention rates are low.
Rhea Watson, a doctoral student in psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said this is because the climate at the university level ranges from unwelcoming to hostile.
Watson, who said she is the first and only black student in her doctoral program, fought back tears as she told the panel how her advisers had repeatedly tried to kick her out of the program and told her she'd "never make it in this program."
"I myself have applied to another school because of the lack of welcome," Watson said, asking the panel to pursue some type of multi-cultural counseling for university professors.
Regent Mark Alden promised Watson, who has a 3.8 grade-point average, that he would look into her situation and make things right.
"You are going to stay at UNLV if I have to go there myself," Alden said.
Both community members and policy-makers also stressed the need for administration and professors to better reflect the student population they serve.
"People need to have visual images of themselves doing things to be able to make it a reality for them," Michael Chambliss, an audience member, said. He added that mentoring programs for minority students were also needed.
The forum primarily centered on the access of blacks to higher education, but there was also a call to help Hispanics and in particularly immigrants gain access to higher education.
State law guarantees admission to anyone who graduated from a Nevada high school, but many colleges ask students for their nationality on admissions forms, Giunchigliani told the panel. This bars many immigrant students from bettering their lives and the entire community, Giunchigliani said.
Regent Howard Rosenberg said he would ask the Board of Regents to look at the admission forms at the next possible meeting.
The forum incorporated little community involvement, as most of the attendees were members at some level of the state educational system. Only a few of the 40 attendees were parents and students.
"We need to have more roundtable discussions and we need to do a better job of getting the parents and students out here," said Regent Linda Howard, who hosted the event.
Others agreed, but said that talking about the different issues was the first step to making changes.
"I think most people will want to fix it. They just don't know," said Rosenberg, who added that he found the forum to be eye-opening.
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