THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 15, 1994 TAG: 9407150527
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
A presentation on Norfolk State University's premier honors program turned into a hand-wringing session on the dearth of black males enrolled in the program - and throughout U.S. universities.
Larry Mattix, director of NSU's Dozoretz science program, told board members Tuesday that 70 of the 100 students are female. Every year the program sends about two dozen graduates to medical or graduate schools or to jobs with companies such as IBM.
Quizzed about the shortage of males, Mattix said: ``The problem, frankly, is that they (often) don't have the qualifications'' to enter the program. Applicants must have a B average and a 1000 SAT score.
That set off a discussion on the low numbers of black males in higher education and the role Norfolk State could play in reversing the trend.
Nationally, of all blacks in colleges between the ages of 18 and 24, the number of males has fallen to 40 percent, an American Council on Education study this year said. Of white students, 48 percent are men.
``The prevailing attitude in urban high schools,'' complained board member Edythe C. Harrison, ``is that it's not cool for black males to do well. It's embarrassing if they do.''
President Harrison B. Wilson said he visited five middle schools in the last year. ``We can do that over and over and over,'' he said, ``but once we leave, they go back to the community, where the influence is.''
Alan G. Fleischer, rector of the board, suggested easing requirements for some males to get into the honors science program. But Wilson said: ``This was going to be our showpiece; we are not going to lower our standards.''
Edythe Harrison suggested that Norfolk State expand its links with middle schools. But Mattix noted that a program to bring in black teenagers for science workshops at NSU was halted five years ago when the National Science Foundation cut funding for it.
The university, he said, has unsuccessfully applied for money from other agencies to revive the project.
``No one wanted to fund that program,'' Mattix said. ``They all want to fund (just) the brightest students.''
One high school student said in an interview that the answer lay in programs such as the ``male development seminar'' held annually by the Omega Psi Phi fraternity on NSU's campus. The seminar brings together black youngsters and teens and professionals such as doctors and lawyers.
``It just made you feel a lot better,'' said Derek Henry, a rising senior at Norfolk's Booker T. Washington High School. ``I had higher self-esteem when I left, and I felt like I could tackle the world.''
Also at the meeting:
Board members said they were trying to lure the Virginia Symphony to hold its concerts at the performing arts center being built on campus. The symphony usually plays at Chrylser Hall, but is looking for another home.
Wilson announced that state Sen. L. Louise Lucas had been hired by NSU this month. Lucas, an NSU graduate, will be paid $56,870 a year as the school's federal liaison for work-force retraining. She said her goal will be to attract aid to NSU for programs to retrain workers, such as military personnel. by CNB