President's Message
Creating a Culturally Rich Campus for Texas Tech
Never in our lifetime have the values of higher education -- to promote learning for life, to improve human knowledge and understanding, and to help solve the social and economic needs of our communities and states -- been more important to society. Yet, college enrollment as a percentage of Texas’ overall population has dropped over the past decade. Today, only one in five Texans holds a college degree, and far too many minority citizens do not participate in higher education opportunities.
Because minority populations have been historically underrepresented on college campuses – including Texas Tech – the university must do more than ever before to include these populations in higher education opportunities. A core principal of the administration at Texas Tech University is that a college education should be available to every willing and academically able Texan. A second principle is that this university is open to the expansion of its multicultural community where diversity is encouraged and inclusion is the norm.
A growing body of research on college campuses shows that diversity will be a key component to educational excellence in the 21st century. As American Association of College and Universities past president Carol Geary Schneider says, "Diversity on campus and in the curriculum is producing new knowledge, new respect, and new commitment to intergroup community. This is an extraordinary resource for a democracy that is growing more diverse by the hour."
Texas Tech University considers increasing ethnic, racial and economic diversity on campus a major goal of our current strategic plan. To that end, we have begun several measures to bring us closer to our goal. Dr. Juan Munoz joined our faculty last fall in the College of Education. He also serves as the Special Assistant to the President for Diversity. Dr. Munoz works with every college on campus to help recruit a more diverse faculty and student body. He also encourages faculty to mentor students from diverse backgrounds who often thrive when given special attention while adjusting to the university world.
Through innovative scholarship programs aimed at first generation college students and through college recruitment programs that begin in the early years of K-12 education and last through high school, Texas Tech hopes to attract the attention of students and parents who would not otherwise consider the availability, affordability and potential of a college education in their families. In this way, we aim to further our recent progress in expanding diversity in our student population. Likewise, we will continue to seek well qualified minority and women candidates for faculty and staff positions so that our students find a wide diversity of appropriate role models in the classroom and on campus.
Equally important to increasing our minority populations on campus is ensuring a climate on campus where diversity is celebrated and a variety of multicultural experiences is available in the classroom as well as in every aspect of campus life. To do less would rob our current and future students of the educational experience they will need to flourish in this new century where boundaries between peoples and geographic areas are being redefined.
As we hope for peace in the world and understanding among cultures and countries to sustain that peace, we must recognize that cultural isolation and higher education are not philosophical partners. We must increase our efforts at Texas Tech to welcome a diverse student body and provide a culturally rich experience for every student on campus.
President Jon Whitmore