Texas A and M University - Aggieland Yearbook (College Station, TX)

Page 31 text:

Above: A study in contrast. Bruce Babin, senior me¬ chanical engineering major, and Stacey Douglass, ju¬ nior agricultural economics major, go over class notes together. Left: Veronica Stewart, a freshman from La¬ redo, provides an alternative to the usual coed style. Friends, calling them¬ selves the “Super Tuesday Lunch Bunch,” gather in front of the Academic Building every Tuesday at noon to enjoy lunch. Features 27

Page 30 text:

The past few years have brought many changes to campus. Larger students ranks lead to greater de¬ viation from the traditional conser¬ vative image. This offers A M a little ‘The extra publicity invites a flex of new, diverse students. Look at the liberal arts program, it’s blown up in our faces. —Mike McKenna senior history major Diversity Texas A M has long been viewed as a conservative, unchang¬ ing university attracting students with agricultural, technical, or military interests. Our image portrays a school not of the stereotypical collegiate mainstream, where student bodies study the classics and take stands on political issues. Yet with enroll¬ ment increasing to levels where the Board of Regents has capped the future members, the A M student body is exper¬ iencing change at much quicker rate than in the past. Mike McKenna, senior history major, attributes the changes to A M’s success on the gridiron and behind the microscope. “The extra publicity invites a flex of new, diverse students. Look at the liberal arts program, it’s blown up in our faces.” The new faces seem apparent. More foreign tongues seem to be spoken beyond the Academic Building, and Nguyen is more popular than Jones. Linda Longoria, senior education major, noticed “when I first came to A M I met people from Plainview and Cold Springs . . . now I meet Houston and Dallas people.” The make up of the student body is diversifying, and while many think A M is a new world now, others think it is not progressive enough. Sean Smith, senior journalism major, feels that “there may be diversity among a homogeneous set, but there is no diversity here.” He views progress as slow and our image in accordance to outside perspectives, Jason Sessom, senior marketing major, points out that progressive groups are “few in number, yet they do exist.” In spite of the conservative image the university has had for some time, students are attracted here. While the Texas econo¬ my has had its problems, more people have entered school with interests to make a better place for themselves in this world. With this interest comes new faces, ideas, attitudes and lifes¬ tyles inherent to A M’s future. The outlook is more fitting of a collegiate mainstream. We can only speculate that the class of 2000 will be like in light of A M’s strong traditions which are experiencing changes now. Changes may not be as rigid in the future. By Yollie Lopez Members of Phi Delta theta lounge by the Chemistry Building fountain between

Page 32 text:

Administration pushes for increase Minority Enrollment By Lee Schexnaider Minority enrollment increased in 1987- 1988, but overall numbers were still low and the University turned to several pro¬ grams designed to attract more minority students. A M Associate Provost Jerry Gaston said the number of minority students in the graduate and undergraduate programs has increased. “Last fall (1986) we had 175 new black students,” he said. “This fall (1987) we have 268, which is a 53 percent increase. In the Hispanic category we also have a 53 percent increase, but the numbers are dif¬ ferent — 397 for last fall and 608 for this fall.” To help boost those numbers, A M start¬ ed a program to help minority students pre¬ pare for college while still in high school. The University Outreach Centers encour¬ aged minority high school students to take classes that would help them get into col¬ lege. And the Office of Student Relations ap¬ pointed recruiters who were to be perma¬ nently located in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio. “The idea is they would be available as recruiters particular¬ ly in the public schools in the highly popu¬ lated areas,” he said. “And consequently they can work with school counselors to get the students to apply themselves toward higher education in the first place, and Tex¬ as A M is the second.” The program is a joint venture between A M and the Uni¬ versity of Texas. Lynn Brown, associate di¬ rector of the Office of School Relations for A M said the purpose of the centers is to contact potentially good academic black and Hispanic students. “Avery large percent of what would prob¬ ably be qualified students don’t take courses necessary to be able to go to col¬ lege,” he said. Sallie Sheppard, associate provost for the University Honors Program and under¬ graduate studies, says many of the minor¬ ities haven’t taken the right classes. “They come here and have a rough time or can’t get in. We want to talk to them while they are young and tell them they can go to (colleges like) A M or UT. Also in 1987-1988, the University formed the Multicultural Services Center to help students already at A M. Kevin Carreathers, the center’s coordinator, said a centralized office for minority students was needed. “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 said. “Someone has mentioned that it is a home away from home for minority students.” IS ' .- ' ►