Advertising in broader venues would increase diversity on campus

University officials have been striving to increase diversity among faculty and students on campus, and although there has been an increase in minority faculty and students, the University still has work to be done. Minority students increased by 5.8 percent since fall 1997, but the increase in minority faculty members was much lower- only 0.9 percent.

The Nicholls Worth feels that if the University continues to recruit more minority students, the number of minority faculty members may consequentially increase on campus because potential faculty may be attracted to a more diverse campus.

One way to continue to increasing enrollment of minority students is for the University to broaden its advertising area.

We commend the University on its attempts to recruit more students through Web sites such as Myspace.com; however, the University’s television advertisements may still be too limited.

The University will air commercials in Southeast Louisiana, Southwest Mississippi, New Orleans, Baton Rouge and the Houma-Thibodaux tri-parish area in November and December. But is the University’s number of minority students and faculty really going to grow if the University only advertises in nearby areas?

The Nicholls Worth encourages the University to broaden its television advertising for students to areas throughout the United States, not simply in Louisiana and Mississippi. We realize, though, that minority recruitment is a complex problem and that economical and geographical factors affect the amount of minority students and faculty the University can recruit.

However, the University can use advertisements that it already has created in order to emphasize its main areas of excellence in more regions of the United States.

The Nicholls Worth believes that an increasing number of minority faculty members and students will make the University more appealing to all prospective or current students.

After all, with a more diverse student body and faculty, students will receive a better college education. In a diverse atmosphere, students will be able to encounter new and different perspectives, and being able to understand the world from different perspectives is ultimately what makes a student the most educated.