Scott Kurashige – Diversity Gap at Public Universities

A  fraternity party last fall at the University of Michigan described as “World Star Hip Hop Presents: Hood Ratchet Thursday” promised twerking, rappers, gangsters, thugs, and basketball players. African American students were incensed. The incident brought to light an underlying issue that has plagued the university for years. In 1996, Michigan voters passed a ballot initiative that banned race-based admission at state schools. Since then, minority enrollment at the University of Michigan has steadily declined. Scott Kurashige, Michigan professor of American culture, history, and Afro-American and African studies, argues in a recent commentary that, in their lack of diversity, schools like Michigan are failing to uphold their mission as public institutions.