The University of Idaho Black Student Union recognizes students are affected by more than just academics, which is why they want to improve racial and ethnic diversity on campus, member and former vice president of the organization, Cynthia Ballesteros said.
“Our population has been shrinking (on campus), so we need a space to feel comfortable,” said George Ngalamulume, Black Student Union president and second-year chemistry and international studies student.
Allocation of student fees, department funding, recruitment efforts for black students and acquiring more diverse faculty are among the issues members expressed concern about.
Gavin Green | Argonaut
Junior Shavaine Byass and freshman Delstrom Williams listen as senior Dorothy Apai shares her opinion during the Black Student Union meeting Thursday night in the Multicultural Affairs Office.
Dorothy Apai, former president of the Black Student Union and fourth-year accounting and economics student, said she was angry to see how student fees are allocated toward athletics.
UI’s Budget Office breaks down the 2017-18 academic year’s student fees per student per semester, not including tuition, for full-time undergraduate, graduate, resident and non-resident students. Of the $1,070.93 of full-time student fees per semester, $577.98 go to the dedicated activity fee, which is comprised of programs aimed at supporting students. The remaining $492.95 goes to facility fees and student computing and network access.
Almost 20 percent of the activity fee portion goes toward intercollegiate athletics, which receives $113.57 of a student’s fees per semester. Meanwhile, about one percent, $5.54 of the activity fees’ almost $600, is allocated directly to the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA), according to the UI Budget Office FY18 Student Tuition and Fees.
Many multicultural groups are pushed and confined to OMA, with the exclusion of the Native American Student Center, Apai said. She understands the premise behind having one center, as it provides a space for all multicultural groups, but feels it isn’t enough.
“There’s individual needs too,” Ballesteros said.
According to a Forbes article analyzing enrollment statistics from the 2016-17 academic school year, 1.4 percent of students at UI identified as black or African American.
“I think the biggest thing is that the University of Idaho doesn’t try to recruit people of color as much as other universities,” said Shavaine Byass, Black Student Union vice president and third-year mechanical engineering and neuroscience student.
If UI wants to recruit people of color in state, Ballesteros said the university should focus on bettering recruitment efforts in southern Idaho, where African Americans and Africans comprise a notable demographic of the Boise metropolitan area’s population. The problem with recruiting students there, Ngalamulume said, is that many stay around Boise to be near family.
UI could do something similar to the Vandal Challenge, which aims to recruit Latino students, but with a focus on recruiting black students, Apai said.
She noticed there are more people of color staff this year, but as a black student she said she feels underrepresented, particularly in the business college. A more diverse base of faculty provides more visibility and understanding between staff and students on social issues, Ballesteros said.
The organization first formed at UI in the ‘70s, but has dissolved and been recreated a total of three times, Ballesteros said. Throughout the organization’s history, and recently, Ballestoros said they have reached out to administration to improve black student recruitment efforts. Apai said from her experiences speaking with administration, most seemed motivated and supportive.
“Things can happen in small groups, but numbers speak volumes,” Apai said. “With everything that we want to do, we still need administrative backup one hundred percent.”
Kyle Pfannenstiel can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @pfannyyy
Black Student Union upcoming events:
-The Black Student Union Soul Food Sunday is 11:30 a.m. Oct. 1 in the Student Diversity Center. Free food including Mac and cheese, collard greens, potato salad, Mexican rice, and more will be served on a first-come, first-served basis.
-The Black Student Union Soul Food Sale is Oct. 19. Location has yet to be determined.