San Diego State was ranked No. 20 in the nation for ethnic minority bachelor degrees for the 2010-11 academic year by the magazine Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. The overall combined rankings included degrees awarded to African-Americans, Native Americans, Asian-Americans and Hispanics.
California led the top 20 ranking with 11 colleges acknowledged, all of which were campuses from the University of California and California State University. SDSU ranked No. 12 for Latinos, No. 19 for Native American and No. 21 for Asian-Americans receiving bachelor degrees.
Even with the new distinction there are students who are unaware of all the resources, clubs and organizations available for minority students.
Fourth-year transfer student Kodi Bobier said he has not been involved with minority-tailored organizations because he did not know about them, but has been active in many clubs on campus, including the SDSU Student Ambassadors and Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity.
“I feel very accepted and SDSU has made it very easy to be a minority,” Bobier said. “All I have to say is SDSU may be No. 20 which is something to be proud of, but we will only get higher in ranking as time goes on.”
Associated Students Vice President and former SDSU Diversity Officer Channelle McNutt says the recognition of being a top minority degree producer is a new way for students to look at SDSU.
“We really don’t take the time to learn about our campus community and the people who are a part of it,” McNutt said. “It’s not about the title or the ranking, but more about the opportunities SDSU is providing to students, their families and our community.”
SDSU is involved in more than 10 community outreach programs for San Diego County’s diversity community, including the recent initiative Minority Male Community College Collaborative launched by SDSU professors Frank Harris III and J. Luke Wood.
“Nothing about diversity at SDSU is negative but I believe our campus community can take a more proactive approach toward diversity and having a consistent dialogue about diversity, culture and community,” McNutt said.
