University of Texas - AustinDiversity Summary

Written by Tony Griffin

Tony Griffin

Hometown

Houston, TX

Major

Marketing

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Diversity on the UT campus is a rather touchy subject. The school is predominantly white, but there are definitely minorities on campus, and they often make themselves known. Many students feel that the student body is too diverse, and depending on where you are on campus, it can definitely seem as if the minorities are the majority on campus. The Hopwood case in 1997 banned Affirmative Action at the University after white students sued the UT Law School when African American students who were less qualified were let in, and the white students were not. The “Top 10 Percent Rule” was implemented to take the place of Affirmative Action post-Hopwood, though it really has not done much for minority enrollment.

There is not a lot of tension between minority and majority groups on campus. Many minority groups tend to keep to themselves on campus. Some groups on campus, Student Government being one of them, want to force a mandatory diversity class on all students. This will not likely help relations on campus and has resulted in a number of heated debate in the campus newspaper, the Daily Texan, for months. It seems at times that the Administration caters too much to minority groups on campus. There are special groups on campus that focus on increasing minority enrollment and starting programs to get students from high schools that are not typically represented at UTA. There are several majors dealing with African American studies, Asian American Studies, Mexican American Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies. So, if one positive, minority students who do get accepted into UTA certainly won’t find a biased course catalog.