Concerned that their organizations' memberships are too homogeneous, some student leaders are making a push to diversify their ranks.
Although overt discrimination largely has vanished at the University, some students said they believe their groups need to work to create a more inviting atmosphere for minorities.
Black Student Alliance President Tyler Scriven said he felt that the burden of recruiting minority members into an organization fell both on the groups themselves and the minority students.
"It's a two-way street," Scriven said. The burden "falls on both of us."
Student Council President Micah Schwartz said he thought the responsibility of recruiting minority members should fall on organization leaders.
"Because of the current composition [of Council], it may not look inviting to minority students," Schwartz said. "We don't want to give off the wrong impression."
Schwartz said he will be attending both the Black Student Alliance and Latino Student Union meetings next week to try to spark interest in Council.
The uninviting atmosphere of some organizations is largely due to a lack of consciousness about the issue, according to fourth-year College student Timothy Lovelace, the student representative to the Board of Visitors.
"Student organizations aren't necessarily excluding minorities, it's just that lack of cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity leads to an environment where minority students don't feel welcome," Lovelace said. "Student organizations need to evaluate how welcoming their secular environment is."
Lovelace said that once student organizations reach out, minority students will respond.
"Minority students will join if the active recruitment and welcoming environment are present," Lovelace said.
Scriven agreed that many student groups do not present a friendly exterior to all students.
"When there are students interested in joining an organization, they're not always met with a welcoming environment," he said.
Scriven also added that he does not believe the unwelcoming atmosphere is intentional.
Some organizations prefer that minority students take the initiative. College Republicans President Ben Beliles said he prefers "to see individual minority students reach out in a variety of ways."
If individual minority students take the initiative to join predominantly white organizations, they will be able to interact with student organizations on a much more intimate basis than if they waited for special attention, Beliles said. He added that because the College Republicans often are perceived as a group composed solely of white males, he has tried to create an environment that is accepting to all students.
University Democrats President Ian Amelkin says his organization hasn't experienced problems with diversity.
The number of black members in the University Democrats is "in line with the number of African-Americans on campus," Amelkin said.
Amelkin pointed out that his organization across the country tends to be a pro-minority group, and because of this they do not need to specifically recruit minorities to maintain diversity.
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