Retention Action Project (R. A. P.)

Having worked at this university since 1977 as a Black man on the faculty, I have a grasp of the difficulties that our students of color experience, and the barriers they must face. In addition, I know the weight that such difficulties can bring down on their shoulders, and the toll that those barriers can exact from them. Therefore, I am especially saddened and disturbed by the information that each fall semester, large numbers of these aspiring students who came to this campus the previous fall as new freshmen do not return.

I have made a determination to improve the retention of students of color on this campus. It is my hope that this university can become number one in the nation as an attractive home away from home for our students of color. It is only through the combined efforts of the students, administrative and custodial staff, faculty and the community that we can achieve this dream, and I am prepared to do what I can to help make it real. Educating some white students, Faculty, Administrators, custodial workers and neighboring merchants in multiculturalism and societal racial awareness is an essential part of the process. In regards to students, a nationwide census/demographics (See Alberto Cabrera) shows that more white students than people of color complain about not getting an education in diversity matters. Big companies have decreased their recruitment efforts because our students are not sufficiently qualified in diversity matters. This retards the process for the majority. In other words we are not creating the education that influences market values for the next generation.

I see these ( i.e. R.A.P.) efforts as a refreshing fountain of youth. We can all become students again, learning from our successes and failures, and taking a position of humility as we reassess how far we have come, how much farther we have to go in growing toward the strengths, wisdom and maturity necessary for true diversity.

I came to teaching with the thought that I wanted to help students through their "thinking processes," and then see them exceed anything that I have done through their own initiative generations, for whom we want to make this a better campus and a more excellent university.

Richard Davis, President