A Step In The Right Direction

Story by Maxwell Abbatiello

Ohio University welcomes the class of 2025 as one of the most diverse groups in years.

Design by Brooke Garrett

Every year comes a new fall, and every fall brings a new freshman class to Ohio University’s Athens campus. OU has never been known for having a diverse student population; in fact, College Factual ranked OU’s Athens campus racial and ethnic diversity 3,062 out of 3,790 schools nationwide. Freshman enrollment has been declining since 2015, and the coronavirus has not aided with freshmen enrollment numbers last fall. This year, however, has proved to be different.

According to the Staff Reports section of the OHIO News webpage, this fall, freshmen enrollment on Athens campus was up by 17 percent. Freshman international student enrollment also increased by 28 percent. What really separates this year’s new class of students from the past is the record number of African American students, with 6.5 percent of the total class identifying as the race. There has also been an increase in Latinx freshman students.

Kraig Ransom, a freshman at OU, graduated from Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High school in Columbus. He says that at his high school, students received much more information about universities in Ohio such as Ohio State University and University of Cincinnati, but no one really paid attention to OU.

“Where I’m from, not a lot of people knew about OU. Everybody knows about OSU and UC,” Ransom says.

Compared to other universities in Ohio, OU still doesn’t exceed diversity rankings. In fall 2020, Ohio State’s main campus had 23.9 percent minority student population, according to the Ohio State University Statistical Summary. According to the UC Facts webpage, in 2020, minorities made up 24 percent of the University of Cincinnati main campus in the student population.

In contrast, the Athens campus had a 15.9 percent diverse student population, according to The Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Analytics at Ohio University, which is less than both UC and OSU’s minority student population.

Ransom thinks that if highschools like his had more information about OU, then more students would apply. According to Vice President for Enrollment Management Candace Boeninger, due to the pandemic, the university faced restrictions when it came to “traditional methods of recruitment” such as traveling to high schools for college fairs and on campus visits. OU had to look for other ways to reach out to prospective students.

The increase in underrepresented populations of students this fall can, in part, be attributed to the virtual programs and events conducted through the university. Boeninger says that programs such as “For The Culture” and “Cultural Connections” helped students to connect with OHIO student leaders, organizations and current student programming.

The “For the Culture” web series helps OU students learn more about the multicultural community at OU and helped to give an idea of the OU experience for students of color. Guest speakers have included former OU President, Dr. M. Duane Nellis, Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Dr. Gigi Secuban, as well as the student senate president and current students at OU.

Korina Ragouzis is studying communication at OU and graduated high school in Cincinnati. She identifies as Hispanic and White.

“My mom is one hundred percent Colombian, she was born and raised there, and then she moved here [the U.S.] when she was twenty-five,” Ragouzis says.

Ragouzis says that she has experienced more diversity during her time in high school than now, but also recognizes the improvement within OU’s diverse student population.

“I like it a lot, you get to come into contact with different cultures and you’re able to learn about other people and what their normalcy is... I appreciate that,” she says.

There are many cultural organizations and programs on campus that students can get involved in. The Asian American/Pacific Islander Student Union brings together Asian American/Pacific Islander students at OU, the Black Student Union focuses on connecting African American students at OU and the Latino Student Union promotes the unity of Hispanic and Latino students. The Multicultural Center, located in Baker Center, can provide more information about all the cultural clubs and activities at OU as well as the Bobcat Connect website.

Ragouzis says that being Hispanic hasn’t really impacted her time at OU yet and looks forward to seeing diversity play out at OU with the slight—but still increase—in diverse student populations.

“It’s definitely going to be a growing experience to see the whole [diversity] thing flourish. I think it's definitely gonna be great,” she says.