The biggest obstacles with diversity at Auburn University are not cultural, but economic.
The inability to match scholarships from competing universities, the lack of visibility for minorities in Auburn and other related issues were openly debated between students and administrators during the campus life-centered HeAUrd That! event Tuesday, Nov. 5.
"If you're really looking at the statistics, we are leaning more toward diversifying. Over time, our percentages have increased," said Florence Holland, special assistant to the Office of Multicultural Affairs. "But, between getting the application, getting accepted and showing up, there has been a problem over the last couple of years with our yield. And the number one issue with our yield is financially."
Auburn scholarships have been tied to the applying students' ACT scores in the past, providing significant financial aid to deserving students, but over time the funds have significantly decreased.
The Plus scholarship awards $2,000 to students who score 30 or higher on their ACT. Holland said the scholarship is given less often to minority students because, on average nationally, those groups do not always test as high.
Schools such as Tuskegee, Alabama State and Alabama A&M are able to provide a full scholarship as well as financial stability to students who score 23 or higher, drawing a larger population of minority students.
Unfortunately, despite the weight of the topics discussed, only a sparse crowd of students attended the event, and came prepared with questions or complaints that had already been addressed in the past.
"A lot of times when it comes to these events, students are either too busy, they don't care or they didn't even hear about it," said Fred Kam, head of the Auburn University Medical Center. "(The students) here are the ones that need to be going out, introducing (themselves) and inviting people to these events."
Another topic discussed was in response to the Oct. 30 AU Extra letter from Jon Waggoner, the interim vice president for student affairs.
Waggoner urged students to remember costumes "are just a cover, and don't necessarily speak to who is inside."
Despite Waggoner's effort to convince students "not to judge a book by its cover," the letter was issued in response to an incident in 2001 involving traditionally white Auburn fraternities dressing up in blackface, Ku Klux Klan regalia and wearing the letters of Omega Psi Phi, a traditionally African American fraternity, then posting the photos online.
The creation of a student Diversity Council was also discussed, with the intent being to serve as a watchdog to the greater campus and community on overlooked, ignored or poorly handled issues sensitive to different groups on campus.
"I don't think making it optional to be sensitive other cultures is acceptable," said Jamecia Crenshaw, senior in public relations and communication. "I think it's very important for the University to foster sensitivity toward cultural differences and actually believe in taking action when they say we believe in diversity and we want to be diverse."
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