Growing student population means more diversity for OSU

Friday, March 30, 2012

By Stephanie Taylor

The record enrollment of 24,231 students on the Stillwater campus last fall included a notable increase in the number of students from diverse backgrounds. The total number of minority students on campus jumped by 15.6 percent, led by a 56.5 percent increase in the number of Hispanic students. Oklahoma State University  also continues to award the highest number of degrees to Native American students in the nation.

“Increased diversity helps the university become more contemporary and competitive, which means we will continue to attract a broad variety of students,” said Jason Kirksey, associate vice president of Institutional Diversity.
The increase in the number of underrepresented minority students attending OSU over the past several years offers a number of opportunities for both the university and students.

“Corporations and government entities are more attracted to colleges and universities with high levels of diversity among the student population,” Kirksey added.

The Division of Institutional Diversity works to serve OSU’s increasingly diverse population by developing and supporting efforts to foster enviroments where students achieve academic success while broadening their perspectives about differences
Institutional Diversity is broken down into four smaller areas: Office of Equal Opportunity, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Diversity Academic Support and TRiO Department, and OK-LSAMP (the Oklahoma-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Support program).
The Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA), previously named the Inclusion Center for Academic Excellence, is an academic and support office that provides cultural education programs to assist students from any background learn more about themselves and others. Precious Elmore heads the Office of Multicultural Affairs, which offers support to students through advising, cultural identity development, mentoring, scholarships, referrals and advocacy.

OMA’s goal is to provide an avenue for all students to gain the necessary tools and skills to enhance their understanding of who they are and who OSU is as a larger community, Elmore said.

“Our programs and services are crucial not only for our students from minority populations but also for students from the majority population,” she said. “All students are given opportunities to learn about various forms of diversity and to be actively involved in diverse communities.”

OMA is also the home to OSU’s cultural affinity groups, including the African-American Student Association, Asian-American Student Association, Hispanic Students Association, Native American Student Association, Vietnamese Student Association, and the office of Women’s and LGBT affairs. Each student group provides academic assistance, mentorship programs and culturally centered social events.

“OSU does a great job with promoting multicultural groups and diversity on campus,” said David Purdie, strategic communications senior, Student Government Association diversity director and member of the SGA Multicultural Affairs Committee.
Purdie also leads the diversity roundtable, a focus group for OMA student organizations. The roundtable helps different multicultural organizations share creative ideas on what they can do to attract incoming students, as well as how they can better promote their organizations either by themselves or by collaborating with other student groups.

“It provides a great avenue for effective communication so we can support each other,” Purdie said. “The mission is to foster a way for students to effectively communicate and collaborate as well as to connect student organizations to SGA, as a resource for their needs.”

According to Kirksey, the Division of Institutional Diversity will continue to work throughout the campus and the community to help facilitate the success of an increasingly diverse student body. The division is also working with the OSU Foundation to identify additional corporate and community partners to help expand existing programs, as well as to increase the retention and graduation rates of the increased number of students for the future.

“OSU aims to produce students who are socially, culturally, and globally competent,” Kirksey said. “We will continue to work to expose the campus community to a variety of programs and activities to help us achieve this goal.