Lorrie Shepard, dean of the School of Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder, announced the school has issued a clarification of registration guidelines via email for a class that last week raised questions about the possibility of discrimination.
An earlier email message on the guidelines had described one section of the 11-section course titled "School and Society" as "restricted" to first-generation and minority students. Today's guideline message, emailed to students enrolled and wait-listed in the course, stated that the previous message was in error. However, the email reiterated the school's intent to encourage enrollment in the section by underrepresented students.
According to the email, "It is the intention of the School of Education to recruit students of color and first-generation college students to participate in a special section of (the course) for the purpose of creating a critical mass of such students. However, the language in the e-mail which restricted enrollment exclusively on the basis of race was in error and is against university policy."
Shepard said students currently enrolled in any section of the course are invited to contact the school if they are interested in enrolling in the special section, regardless of race. Waitlisted students also will be admitted to the special section, if spaces remain.
"Having a critical mass of first-generation and minority students in a class or group helps avoid the sense of isolation described by many students in these groups," Shepard said. "We hope that students of diverse backgrounds who choose this opportunity can engage the intellectual material of this course without distraction."
Shepard emphasized that minority and first-generation students may enroll in any of the 11 sections of the course and are not limited to the special section.
CU-Boulder Provost Phil DiStefano expressed his support for the aims of the special section, within university policies and legal parameters. "We are deeply committed to the recruitment and retention of a diverse student body at CU-Boulder, while complying with the law and our policies," DiStefano said.
"We will continue our efforts to build a campus community that welcomes and supports all students from a wide variety of backgrounds and viewpoints," he said. "As stated in our campus diversity plan, we support diversity not only because it's the right thing to do, but because a diverse community enriches the educational experience of all our students."
DiStefano noted that the Boulder campus offers many targeted support programs for a wide range of students, such as those with high achievement, low income, poor educational preparation or disability, among others. He said an example of these support programs is "the LEAD Alliance, a set of multidisciplinary academic neighborhoods that promote excellence through diversity."