African-American Affairs Dean M. Rick Turner said last night that while African-American students and faculty have had cause to celebrate in the past year, there is much room for improvement in race relations, equality and diversity both on Grounds and in the Charlottesville community.
Turner reflected upon the achievements of the University's black community during his third annual State of the Office of African-American Affairs Address.
During the last year, the nationally-acclaimed Peer Advisor Program and the Faculty-Student Mentoring Program have flourished, Turner said.
"Students come with cultural, social and economic baggage," Dion Lewis, director of the Luther P. Jackson Cultural Center, said in remarks following the speech. "We give them some light."
While Turner praised the University for achieving an 86 percent graduation rate for African-American students in the past year, he said he wants to raise the graduation rate to 90 percent.
"While we're certainly proud, we can do better," Turner said.
In order to increase African-American achievement at the University, Turner said that students must feel welcomed.
"It is not welcoming when we fail to pay close attention to segregation in our midst," he said.
Turner noted that in many University facilities, such as the recreation centers, dining halls and Commerce School, black staff or faculty members do not serve in management positions.
"If you don't have any black folks in these buildings, there's no conversation, no learning that's taking place," Turner said.
Turner noted that only five percent of faculty members at the University are African-American, and that black professors represent only three percent of tenured professors.
Despite his criticism of some departments' lack of diversity, Turner said he feels there is now a serious attempt underway to address issues of diversity at the University through the work of the President's Commission on Diversity.
"I feel that Mr. William Harvey is going to bring a lot of progress at the University," Turner said.
One improvement that Turner said he wants to see is an increase in the African-American student population at the University. In 2005, there were 1,508 African-Americans enrolled at the University, he said.
"This is much too low," Turner said, adding also that the number of African-American females at the University in 2005 was lower than the average number in the previous ten years.
Turner explained that University students can play a crucial role in improving the Charlottesville area.
College fourth-year Kristina Hereford agreed with the need for students to get involved, saying that local youth would greatly benefit from the help of University students.
Specifically, Turner said that students have a responsibility to become involved with efforts to improve the education of African-American children in Charlottesville.
"We need a powerful, persuasive, collective effort," Turner said.
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