The University of Tulsa is wonderfully diverse. You can walk to class and on the way there see students from Thailand all the way to Turkey. TU does not have any trouble recruiting students from abroad. Rather, recruiting minority students from the United States is a different manner.
More than 50 percent of the students that attend TU are white, while about a quarter of the student population is from abroad, leaving less than 25 percent of the student population from various domestic minority backgrounds. TU would be a better place if there were more domestic minority students.
This is only possible through reaching out to prospective minority students and showing them that attending the University of Tulsa is a possibility for them too. And not only a possibility, but also a wonderful opportunity.
Having clubs like LINC-Leaders Incorporated, which pairs up existing freshman from minority backgrounds with upperclassmen who are also from minority backgrounds, allows those incoming students to feel more comfortable in the University of Tulsa community and to become better integrated as well. Other clubs like the Association of Black Collegians also allow for a safe environment for African American students to convene.
TU can improve upon this by hosting events like Junior Visit Day and Tulsa Time specifically for students that come from ethnic communities that are not highly represented at the university. Having minority outreach programs will allow for a greater amount of minority students to visit and witness the university and subsequently apply. Having a diverse community benefits overall student interaction as well as their cultural growth.
Minority outreach is simply another growing point for TU that will allow the university and the TU community to continue its progression and development. Although the University of Tulsa is already wonderfully diverse, local minority outreach programs are just another way to increase that rich diversity.
