The Commission on Cultural Diversity aims to foster a climate that promotes cultural diversity on campus and in the community at large. The Commission advises the President on matters pertaining to cultural and underrepresented groups and monitors and assists our efforts in achieving cultural diversity. It sponsors a biennial conference that recognizes the scholarly efforts of students of color, organizes the participation of diverse cultures in the annual Super fest and publishes The Eclipse, a multicultural student publication.

Millersville offers a broad array of programs to provide support for students of color. In 1996 consultant Jacqueline Fleming visited Millersville to assess our ongoing efforts to retain students of color. She concluded,

An array of programs and practices are in place to improve retention. These include the successful Lancaster Partnership Program, and the Aim for Success Programs, a series of remedial. . . courses, a freshman diversity program, a student mentoring program, services in the Office of Academic Advisement, an executive training program and others. However, the consensus is that no overall, coordinated retention effort exists.

A combination of factors are said to contribute to the poor retention of students of color, including an unwelcoming campus climate, the academic under preparedness of special admit students, the urban roots of minority students, the lack of an African-American or Latino student center, negative attitudes by some faculty, the lack of African or Latino majors, and the absence of support programs for regular admit minorities.

Millersville respondents advocated an approach to retention that is comprehensive enough to affect all students, coordinated by an executive staff member, but drawing on the cooperation of all academic departments and administrative offices.

The Commission on Cultural Diversity approved Dr. Fleming's conclusions and has been working since then to implement them; many of the activities were inspired by her report. The Enrollment Management Steering Committee took the Commission's concerns under advisement in developing its enrollment management plan. One aspect of the plan already successfully implemented is our new Honors Scholarship Program, designed to attract high-performing students, including those of color. Millersville University received over 50 outstanding applications for the first seven scholarships. The two African-American students who accepted the scholarships indicated that they would not have been able to attend Millersville University otherwise.