Percent of Ball State student body by ethnic background
| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | |
| African American | 2.13% | 6.37% | 6.71% |
| Asian American | 0.77% | 0.85% | 0.82% |
| Caucasian | 84.37% | 83.69% | 82.25% |
|
Latino American |
2.90% | 2.92% | 3.45% |
| Native American | 0.23% | 0.13% | 0.09% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.08% | 0.09% | 0.09% |
| Biracial | 2.14% | 1.56% | 1.94% |
| Nonresident Alien | 1.92% | 2.25% | 3.06% |
| Unknown | 1.56% | 2.13% | 1.60% |
Source: Ball State University Fact Book
Reaching out and encouraging minority youth to pursue a career as an educator is one of the goals of a new Ball State student group, which met for the first time on Feb. 19.
The Alliance of Black Teachers’ goal is to provide a community space for black and other students of color to discuss their experiences as teaching majors.
“We don’t really know any African Americans in education at Ball State,” said Kayla Veal, vice president of the Alliance of Black Teachers. “We want to get that sense of community through black education because there doesn’t seem to be one on campus.”
The group meets biweekly in Robert Bell, but the meeting time and day has not been set in stone.
| Source: Ball State University Fact Book | |||
“We just want to talk about that, why that is and to support the black people in the field of education,” she said. “Being the only black voice in a classroom can be difficult or weird sometimes.”
In 2013-2014, Ball State’s total ethnic minority enrollment was 12 percent, according to the Ball State Fact Book. Undergraduate enrollment was 13.1 percent for undergraduate enrollment. There were 1,093 black undergraduate students enrolled that year, which equates to 6.7 percent of undergraduate enrollment.
The group’s creation stems from English education courses taught by Darolyn “Lyn” Jones, an English education and creative writing professor. For eight years, Jones worked with grade school African American students with the Indiana Writers Center.
“In my four years at Ball State, in my English education courses I will have one black student,” Jones said. “Last semester, I had five and that surprised me. I was really happy because we need more teachers of color.”
Jones said the increased diversity in her class spurred diverse and open conversations in the class. Being the only person of color in a classroom makes it difficult to share the experience of the being different she said.
“They were sharing with me in their journals, or in person, how much [they] enjoyed the class, being able to talk with other black students and how this was the first time they were not alone,” she said. “We were talking and we thought, 'why not?'"
The group’s focus is on the uneven number of teachers of color nationwide.
Across the United States, less than 15 percent of teachers are black or Latino, while more than 35 percent of public school students are black or Latino, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
“I’m worried about students not having a teacher that they can’t identify with,” Jones said. “I want young men to male teachers they can identify with too.”
With the continuous decline in enrollment education programs, Jones said the group would eventually host symposiums featuring black educators to speak on why education is an important career to pursue.
At Ball State, enrollment for education majors has declined by 15 percent since fall 2012, according to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.
“Fewer people are going into it and that’s smaller for people of color,” Mitchell said.
The group’s first meeting did not consist solely of black education majors. Fifteen people attended, including Latino, white and other students of color. While the group welcomes students of all ethnic backgrounds, the focus remains on the experience of black students.
“It’s not that non-African American educators are not good, sometime children need that African American teacher as someone they can reach out to and relate to,” Veal said. “It also introduces diversity in the field and see the teaching styles and get a little bit of both. “
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