Posted on 06/19/2002 8:11:20 AM PDT by Phantom Lord
Colleges need to recruit more black professors
I never really took into consideration the effect of having an African-American teacher until I got into college. In elementary school, most of my teachers were African-American. During high school, I had two African-American teachers who taught two different subjects. But at Alfred University, I don't have any African-American professors.
During my freshman year, it didn't really affect me because I didn't notice or care. I was just happy that I was in college. But at the beginning of my sophomore year, I felt like I was lacking minority guidance in some classes, and I miss having conversations with teachers from my own race or ethnicity.
Now I'm wondering if an African-American professor will ever teach me a college course. My mother had African-American professors when she attended college in New York City. I never imagined that leaving New York City meant that I would be deprived of learning from someone from my race or ethnicity. Now I realize I took for granted the thought of always having African-American teachers throughout my life.
I wanted to take an African-American history class during the fall semester of 2001. However, I decided not to. I agreed with a friend who said that for classes like African-American history, a minority professor would give us more to identify with.
The perspective presented by a person of color would be a very positive addition to Alfred's faculty. According to most liberal arts faculty members, an African-American professor would bring people closer to the diverse community found outside of Alfred.
So why do I find myself without at least one African-American professor? One reason may be money. Entry level salaries are really not that great at the college level. Also, according to the Education Statistics Quarterly for the summer of 2000, black full-time faculty members were less likely than white faculty members to have higher salaries.
I am in a great learning environment, and I have well-educated professors. However, I cannot bond with them on an ethnic level. If there were African-American professors at Alfred, my fellow students and I would be in a better learning environment. There is no professor that I can relate to or admire within my race while attending college, and because of that, I don't work as hard as I should.
In one year, I'll be finished with my undergraduate degree without experiencing an African-American professor's perspective. I feel deprived of knowledge because when I bring my work home with me and show it to my old African-American high school teachers, they fill in my information void by telling me their knowledge on subjects dealing with African-American history.
When I have my own children, I want them to experience the best of both worlds - white as well as black professors. I don't want them to wonder, like I do, what it would be like to have an African-American college professor.
College has been an experience that I have looked forward to since I was in high school, but the results have fallen short of my expectations because of the race of my professors. The knowledge that I gain while at Alfred will fall just short of complete.
Universities in Western New York are recruiting many African-American students and expect to keep them. These same universities need to recruit African-American professors, figure out how they can give them higher paychecks and make them feel accepted within the community.
SHEREE N. JOHNSON, a student at Alfred University, lives in the Bronx.
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Now I'm wondering if an White professor will ever teach me a college course. My mother had White professors when she attended college in New York City. I never imagined that leaving New York City meant that I would be deprived of learning from someone from my race or ethnicity. Now I realize I took for granted the thought of always having White teachers throughout my life.
In one year, I'll be finished with my undergraduate degree without experiencing an White professor's perspective. I feel deprived of knowledge because when I bring my work home with me and show it to my old White high school teachers, they fill in my information void by telling me their knowledge on subjects dealing with White history.
Gasp! Shocked, yes Shocked am I at this horrid racism!!!!
Scourge
What does that even mean?
Now I'm wondering if an African-American professor will ever teach me a college course.
I doubt it, and why does it matter?
I never imagined that leaving New York City meant that I would be deprived of learning from someone from my race or ethnicity.
This person is clearly an idiot. Or has lived in a closet their entire life.
How sad this is for our future.
Good analysis.
Who the heck actually "bonds" with their teachers in the first place? I could have cared less about most of my college teachers. You listen in class, take notes, and if you have a question, you ask it. I don't care what color the teacher's skin is, who he/she sleeps with or what their political persuasions are. You take the tests, and try to pass them.
This notion of "bonding" with a teacher is ludicrous. People who are this concerned about such trivial things about a teacher are the type that pretty much want everything spoon fed to them. They depend on the teacher, not themselves, so pass the class.
What a f**k**g joke. Try doing something about skyrocketing tuition, then be as diverse as you want with your b.s. professors of color...and people wonder why I hate college...
Yeah, but the college sure loves her money, nonetheless.
That's probably why. I've never even heard of a black professor in computer science.
What does that even mean?
I'll betcha it means she didn't get any special curves on her exams from a "sympathetic" professor of her same ethnicity. It's a practice I've heard of but never seen practiced (to my knowledge).
If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)
If you want to bond, sit around the campfire and sing.
If you want a college degree, go to college and study!
She has the proper mental attitude to be successful.
Translation: I just got turned down by all fourteen grad schools I applied to for having lousy grades, so I have to figure out some way to pin it on Whitey.
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