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NEWS
| JAN. 29
Admissions
Minority group changes won’t
alter procedures
Major impacts of the 13 percent
Hispanic increase include more purchasing power and Spanish-targeted
advertisements.
By Erica
Bryant
The Shorthorn staff
University officials say recent figures showing Hispanics are the
largest U.S. minority group won’t prompt educators to do more
than they already are.
“It was already expected,” said Fred Henry, assistant
dean of students.
Henry, also Center for Multicultural Services director, said the
state made educators aware of a projected increase in Hispanics
through its “Closing the Gap” campaign geared toward enrolling
300,000 more students in state colleges and universities by 2015.
Ray Casas, assistant director for undergraduate admissions, said
every ethnic population is working together to attend college —
something evident at the university.
Last fall, 2,589 Hispanic students and 2,972 blacks attended UTA.
Casey Gonzales, assistant dean of students, said UTA has more Hispanic
students than any other university in the Metroplex.
The Census Bureau released figures Jan. 21 stating the Hispanic
population reached 37 million in mid-2001, up from 35.3 million
in 2000 when it accounted for 12.5 percent of the population. Hispanics
now make up nearly 13 percent of the nation’s estimated 284.8
million people. Blacks were at 36.2 million in mid-2001, up 2 percent
from 35.7 million in 2000. That group accounts for 12.7 percent
in the latest total.
“They’re looking at a place that was already Hispanic,”
Gonzales said. “People forget that in Texas and in the Southwest,
the majority are Hispanic and Native Americans.”
Gonzales, also Center for Multicultural Cooperation director, said
the recent figures mirror trends of the 70s.
“It’s funny that it’s all going back. It’s like
we’re back in 1970s garb,” he said. “You’re
seeing the same in the population.”
In the recent count, whites remained the largest group, with nearly
70 percent of all U.S. residents, while Asians were the next largest
minority group after blacks, totaling about 4 percent of the population.
The Census Bureau started counting Hispanics in 1980. Since then,
in Texas, Hispanics have outnumbered blacks.
Moneek Thompson, Black Student Association president, said the figures
are reinforcement that a minority group is growing.
In fact, the public relations senior said, the increase could benefit
both blacks and Hispanics.
“The language barrier is a big issue,” she said.
Non-English-speaking Hispanics must learn to communicate effectively
in the United States. Being bilingual profits everyone in the end,
she said.
Henry said that when a specific ethnic group grows, it brings more
attention to certain issues.
For Hispanics in higher education, he said English as a Second Language
classes give them an opportunity to learn a different culture and
ultimately become a better person.
Last year, more than 2,000 Hispanic businesses and business owners
existed in Arlington, said Gonzales, an Arlington Hispanic Chamber
of Commerce member.
“We’ll probably become a minority majority state,”
he said.
The major impact of these figures, Gonzales said, will occur when
Hispanic youth reach voting age. More than a third of Hispanics
are under 18 years old.
Gonzales noted that Hispanic purchasing power increases with their
population, and corporations have taken notice. Companies, he said,
target Hispanics with more advertisements in Spanish.
Hispanic purchasing power grew more than 156 percent during the
past seven years, reaching about $452 billion in 2001, according
to a government Web site, and is projected to top $1 trillion by
2010.
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