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Black pop lags state grad rate Black HS graduation rate dwarfs univ enrollment; gap among worst in nation Black student enrollment at the University of Maryland and many other flagship institutions is not reflective of their state’s population, analysts found in a report released Jan. 29. In 2015, black students made up 36 percent of Maryland high school graduates, according to the study conducted by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. In the same year, however, black students made up just 12 percent of this university’s freshman class — a difference of 24 percentage points. The study examined the percentage of black and Latino students in each state’s public high school graduating class in spring 2015. That data was compared to the percentage of black and Latino students at each state’s flagship that fall. Six states — led by Mississippi, South Carolina and Georgia — had a larger disparity than Maryland between the percentage of black high school graduates and percentage of black freshmen enrolled at their flagship, according to the report. by
Michael Brice-Saddler @TheArtist_MBS Senior staff writer
‘This is about all humanity’
See rate , p. 3
FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD: Our state’s flagship institution isn’t doing enough to improve diversity, and university President Wallace Loh doesn’t seem to recognize the problem, p. 4
Survey: Grads feel little U support, financial woes Graduate students at the University of Maryland say they feel financially unsupported, according to recently released results of a 2017
quality of life survey. More than 2,000 graduate students responded to the 90-question anonymous survey, which spanned topics including level of involvement on the campus and interactions with other graduate students. The survey did not directly ask students about their financial situations — respondents independently raised concerns in response to openended questions — but financial hardship was the most common theme among student answers to a question about displeasure with the university. The survey — the first to be conducted on the graduate student population since 2010 — also asked students to provide feedback on aspects of their university experience, including the ways in which they do not feel supported and why they would not recommend this university’s graduate program. The 109-page report released by the Graduate School sorted responses by theme and presented excerpts from students’ comments. Graduate Student Government Public Relations Vice President Katie Brown said the excerpts displayed in the report are reflective of the issues facing the graduate student body. “When you read these comments, people are really struggling,” she said. “It’s pretty rough and sad and speaks to the issues [the Fearless Student Employees Coalition] and [the Graduate Assistant Advisory Committee] have been raising.” Both the Fearless Student Employees Coalition and Graduate Assistant Advisory Committee exist to advocate for the concerns of student workers at this university. Although the GAAC exclusively represents graduate assistants, the FSC serves all student workers on the campus, having worked See GRADUATEs, p. 2
to deafening applause and a standing ovation, Bobby Seale raised his hands, stepped back and chuckled. ¶ “Reminds me of the sixties,” he said.
Seale, the co-founder of the Black Panther Party, a political activist and a cultural icon, spoke at the University of Maryland on Thursday night about organized resistance and strength in the face of discrimination and oppression. ABOVE: BOBBY SEALE, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, “I don’t believe in riots,” he said. “I believe in orspoke at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center on Thursday. BELOW: ganizing. I believe in putting my machine together.” seale spoke at the Student Union on Feb. 11, 1974, his return The event, part of an arts and humanities college engagement after appearing on the campus two years prior. lecture series titled “Courageous Conversations: ARHU Resists Hate and Bias,” was held in the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center. At least 800 people showed up. Seale, along with fellow activist Huey Newton, formed the Black Panther Party — a revolutionary and often controversial organization dedicated to racial justice — in 1966. At the heart of Seale’s speech was an impassioned call for political representation. “When I started, there were only 52 black folks duly elected to political office all over the United States of America,” he said. “There were over 500,000 political seats one could be elected to at that time.” “People were coming out and saying ‘black power.’ Now, I’m trying file photo by steve hempling/the diamondback, re-photographed by tom hausman/ the diamondback to tell those guys, ‘You ain’t gonna have that power until you get some of those political seats,’” he added. “That was the reason I started the Black Panther Party.” Kelsie Challenger, a freshman behavioral and
Graduate students ‘struggling’ Angela Roberts @24_angier Staff writer
As he arrived at the podium
By Jillian Atelsek @jillian_atelsek Staff writer
graduate students
by
richard moglen/the diamondback
See seale, p. 7
higher education
Loh calls Michigan St scandal ‘horrific’ MSU pres resigns as ex-doc Nassar sentenced and at least 265 women and girls come forward University of M a r y l a n d P re s i Leah Brennan dent Wallace Loh on @allhaeleah Tuesday weighed in Senior staff writer on the sexual abuse scandal at Michigan State University that led to the resignation of its president, Lou Anna Simon, who is accused of failing to adequately address prior complaints alleging Nassar was sexually assaulting women at the university. Simon stepped down Jan. 24, hours by
calendar 2 OPINION 4 FEATURES 5 city 6 diversions 8 SPORTS 12
after USA Gymnastics and Michigan State doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing women and girls. While Loh declined to comment on Simon’s resignation, because he doesn’t usually “comment on these kinds of personnel issues affecting some other universities,” he called it an “absolutely horrific” situation. “It’s very, very tragic,” Loh said. “I mean the number of women who came forward is
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just, I mean over 150, and the stories that they told — it was just heartbreaking.” At least 265 women and girls have come forward, claiming Nassar sexually abused them. More than 150 of his victims, who he abused while claiming to provide medical treatment, gave statements at his seven-day sentencing hearing. This university is among 11 Big Ten universities as of Dec. 26 facing federal investigations for its handling of sexual violence cases. The U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights opened a third case into this university Dec. 6. As of Sunday, all the cases are still active. Caerwyn Hartten, a freshman geology major, said the Nassar allegations created some skepticism of this university’s policies, adding that she would have liked to see a greater response from Loh. See msu, p. 7
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