Lack of Minority Students In College Honors Programs

Qualified incoming freshmen at Trinity have an opportunity to enroll in one of several specialized tracks of learning to complement their liberal arts education. The process of admittance to Guided Studies, the Cities Program, ISP, and the new InterArts program all begin in March of the students' senior year in high school. Students who qualify for one or several of the programs are sent a letter which asks them if they wish to pursue acceptance to a specific program. If the student wishes to apply, their qualifications are reevaluated and, if accepted, they are sent a formal acceptance letter in April.

To quickly summarize the programs, ISP is a program which targets the sciences and searches for students with strong backgrounds in math and science. The program began in approximately 1986 and has a target enrollment of 25-30 and is directed by Dr. Maria Parr. Guided Studies and the Cities Program target between 25 and 30 students and both are directed by Dean Ronald Spencer. Guided Studies has been in existence at Trinity for 21 years. The Cities program is relatively more recent and has just admitted its fourth class. InterArts is a brand new program directed by Professor Katherine Power which is modeled after Guided Studies except is centered around the fine and performing arts. InterArts has a target group of 15 students and the idea was first initiated by students in 1996.

While these programs have always been a tremendous attribute of the Trinity academic environment, the interest in and acceptance of minorities of all backgrounds in these programs has been far less than the directors of Guided Studies, Cities, ISP, and InterArts would like to see. This year, the ISP program has approximately 32 students. No more than five of those students are minority students. "We are very interested in recruiting minority students," said Dr. Paula Russo. "The main criteria is a strong background in science and math and within that we look for students of color, certainly." Despite the interest of the program to accept minority students into ISP, they suffer from a general lack of interest. Guided Studies and the Cities program both have the same problem. "We have a great deal of problems enrolling minority students into Guided Studies and Cities because more often than not, they choose to not enroll at Trinity at all. They have such strong academic backgrounds that they often accept a place at an Ivy League instead," said Dean Spencer. The First Year class of Guided Studies consists of approximately 30 students, none of which are minorities. The same statistics are true for Cities. "Neither program has ever enrolled a sizeable number of minority students," continued Spencer. Dean Spencer went on to say: "We have admitted any number of African American students and other minorities, but in just about every case they choose not to come to Trinity at all." The Cities program has had several Latinos and Asians enrolled, but they certainly do not constitute a majority of the class. Guided Studies as well has had a small number of Asian students and one African American student in the 21 years it has been in existence. "In a sense," said Spencer "we do recruit minority students. Whenever we know that a particular student has interest in Guided Studies or Cities and is of a minority background, we make doubly sure we admit them. We are anxious to have minorities in our program if they are qualified." Both Spencer and Russo expressed a strong desire to encourage minority students to investigate the programs and reinvestigate Trinity as a strong academic choice. "The minority enrollment in Guided Studies and Cities is disappointingly small. If others have any suggestions, I would greatly welcome and appreciate the information," noted Spencer. On a different note, the InterArts program, which is in its first year, has already had more luck enrolling students of ethnicity. This year, the program has 18 students which is three students above the target number. Professor Katherine Power noted that there are definitely several students of ethnicity enrolled in the program. "Minority students are attracted to and enrolled in the program," she said. However, unlike Guided Studies, the Cities Program, and ISP, InterArts does not practice the recruitment of minority students. "We have no special recruitment. We follow the normal procedures of the college," said Power.

While the special academics programs at Trinity are attempting to attract minority students, the enrollment of students of ethnicity in the programs remains low. The InterArts program, however shows promise for a diverse student-body already in its first year. While Guided Studies and Cities both accept any number of minority students, very often those students do not choose Trinity, but look to another institution to meet their educational expectations.