<p>detpeace, things always seem worse in stories in the paper and in blogposts than they are in real life because they are exaggerated and sensationalized. While I would surmise that these are things you will confront at U-M, I would doubt that they will have a large effect on the day-to-day and I would not let it dissuade you from attending U-M. If these things concern you, it would probably not hurt to talk about them with African American alumni of U-M so you are prepared for what life will be like on campus and to minimize the effect of these things that concern you. It would help if the white posters did the same but that is unlikely to happen - unfortunately the negative comments often result from an ignorance of your experience. My African American friends thought there experience at U-M was a good one but would not take issue with what Mr. Green wrote about.</p>
<p>I understand where you’re coming from, but my posts aren’t about a race issue. The article talks about both being black in Ann Arbor and being a detroiter in Ann Arbor. They are NOT the same thing. The fact that Michigan does not have a lot of Detroit students is because of the school systems there. The issue of not being diverse enough is subjective. Many see Michigan as an incredibly diverse campus. If people see it as lacking in that department, then make a better case for an admissions structure that helps the campus be more diverse. I love that Michigan has some of the best minds in the world. I love that I can get different viewpoints in my classes because the campus isn’t homogenous. I would just hate to lose that intellectual environment so that more Detroit students can catch up. If there were more diverse students who still had the drive to be here in the first place, then that would be fantastic. The problem with the article (and the comments in response) is the fact that people are lumping being black and being from Detroit together when they shouldn’t. That makes it emotionally charged.</p>
<p>Detroit is almost 85% black. Being a Detroiter and being black is almost synonymous.</p>
<p>So what’s the point of the article? He is black and there aren’t a lot of black people at Michigan? Idk what he expected.</p>
<p>Certain groups already get some admissions boosts when applying (URMs, women in engineering, etc) because the university LOVES to yell “diversity!” every chance they get. I don’t think it is on the university to force even more URMs into the school. So what does the poster want?</p>
<p>The school moved away from Detroit for a reason. Sure the school could do more being so closer but it’s not gonna fix it. The school isn’t very black because black high school students in Michigan aren’t doing too well.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Most of the University’s in-state African-American students are from Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, Pontiac & Ypsilanti. All five cities are similarly horrible; so sorry avita, but there’s not much difference between a black student from Detroit and a black student from one of the other Michigan crime & poverty capitals.</p>
<p><a href=“i”>quote</a>The school moved away from Detroit for a reason. </p>
<p>(ii)The school isn’t very black because black high school students in Michigan aren’t doing too well.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>(i) They were letting too many low-achieving African-American students in, which was harming their graduation rate and gap.</p>
<p>(ii) 2 in 3 drop out of high school. Average ACT score is 16. African-American applicant pool is quite shallow.</p>
<p>Ypsi isn’t so bad. Also, I doubt any substantial portion of Blacks at Michigan come from Ypsi. I met a guy from Ypsi once, he was White and said only a few people from his high school his year went to Michigan. Maybe more transfer but definitely not right out of high school.</p>
<p>I’m surprised and concerned by comments that suggest that it is understandable or ok that UMich’s black student population is low because it is an elite institution. Most elite institutions are falling over themselves to increase their minority student populations both to increase the diversity of their campuses and to provide opportunities to students whose socioeconomic circumstances prevented them from being as successful as they could be. Just optically, I have been surprised by the lack of African Americans on campus. I find this interesting because it appears (just optically, I have no data) that the campus staff is well represented by African Americans. Whether this segment of the student population comes from Detroit or out of state, I think Michigan could do a better job of recruiting African American students with potential.</p>
<p>Regardless of the makeup of Detroit itself, not all black students at Michigan are from Detroit. The fact that students in Detroit don’t have sufficient scores to get into a school like Michigan has no effect on the overall African American population of the school. Roughly half of students at Michigan are out of state students. The problem of not having enough students from Detroit and the problem of not having enough African American students is NOT the same problem.</p>
<p>So, sorry alopez, just looking at in state data is barely representative of half of Michigan. Your sample is flawed.</p>
<p>I think you think I have something against JUST Detroit. I wouldn’t want to live in Flint or Ypsi either. Sorry, I don’t want to live in any poverty and crime stricken area.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Do you have data to back this up? I’m extremely skeptical of this claim. The City of Detroit’s black population is now roughly 560,000, compared to a statewide black population of roughly 1.4 million. There are now nearly as many black residents in Detroit suburbs as in the City of Detroit, including probably 300,000 or so in suburban Wayne County and another 160-180,000 or so in Oakland County, and another 55-60,000 in Macomb. Southfield and Oak Park are now majority black; probably more black residents of Southfield than of Pontiac at this point. Tiny Romulus has a bigger black population than Ypsilanti. Heck, Ypsilanti is really small; Washtenaw County has a black population of about 45,000, of whom probably fewer than 7,000 live in Ypsi.</p>
<p>Lots of black families have left the City of Detroit for better schools , and it’s a good bet their kids graduate at higher rates, and attend colleges like the University of Michigan at higher rates, than do black Detroiters. After metro Detroit and Flint, the Grand Rapids area has the largest black population in the state–at least 50% bigger than Saginaw County’s black population, and lots of GR-area kids attend the University of Michigan.</p>
<p>Demographically speaking, kids from middle-class black families are far more likely to attend schools like the University of Michigan than are kids from impoverished areas like inner city Detroit or Flint. Now it’s true there are some middle-class black areas in the City of Detroit, too, but I’d be willing to bet the University of Michigan draws more suburban blacks at this point than it does from the City of Detroit.</p>
<p>I have a hunch you just make up “facts” as you go along.</p>
<p>^ Hey, hyper-literal guy, I was simply rattling off cities in SE Michigan with high black populations. I don’t know why it’s far fetched for “most” of the University’s black students to come from…where the overwhelming majority of the state’s black people live.</p>
<p>[The</a> Racial Dot Map: One Dot Per Person for the Entire U.S.](<a href=“http://demographics.coopercenter.org/DotMap/index.html]The”>The Racial Dot Map | Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service)</p>
<p>Either way, in 2010, almost 70 of 352 black freshmen were from two DPS feeders alone.</p>
<p>sources:
<a href=“Office of Budget and Planning”>Office of Budget and Planning;
[Feeding</a> the ‘U’: Why 16 percent of the student body comes from the same 20 high schools - The Michigan Daily](<a href=“http://www.michigandaily.com/content/feeder-schools]Feeding”>Feeding the 'U': Why 16 percent of the student body comes from the same 20 high schools)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yeah, OK, that’s an admission that you’re talking out of your a**. Ypsilanti, with a population of 20,000 that’s 30% black? That’s a “high black population”? That’s about one-seventh the black population of Washtenaw County. There are more black residents of Ann Arbor than of Ypsi by quite a margin, and I’ll bet a much higher fraction of the black Ann Arborites attend the University.</p>
<p>According to the Office of the Registrar, in the Fall of 2012, there were 1780 black students at the University of Michigan, of whom 1196–about 2/3–were Michigan residents. Of those, 550, or less than half, were from Wayne County, which includes Detroit. But Detroit has only about 60% of Wayne County’s black population. If that ratio holds, about 330 black students at Michigan would be from the City of Detroit.</p>
<p>Add to that 44 from Genesee County which includes Flint; about 3/4 would be from the City of Flint if population ratios hold, so call it 33 from Flint. Exactly 9 from Saginaw County, which has never sent many students to the University of Michigan because it’s mostly MSU territory among those who go away to college, but many more attend the local public university, Saginaw Valley State.</p>
<p>Other big contributors: Oakland County (259) and Washtenaw County (161). Pontiac is in Oakland County but its black population is well under 20% of the county’s black population. These are mostly suburban students, not inner-city students. Same in Washtenaw, where as noted previously, Ypsilanti’s black population is about 15% of the county’s black population. Probably most of these are from Ann Arbor</p>
<p>The rest are from a wide variety of places: Macomb (37), all suburbs; Ingham (29) which includes Lansing, East Lansing, and their suburbs; Kent (27) which includes Grand Rapids and most of its suburbs; Kalamazoo (20); Berrien (17) which includes Benton Harbor; and a smattering from places like Jackson, Muskegon, Battle Creek, and elsewhere.</p>
<p>Bottom line, there’s no way “most” of the University of Michigan’s black students, or even “most” of the in-state black students, come from the cities of Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, Pontiac, and Ypsilanti. Most do come from the Detroit metro area, especially if you lump Ann Arbor/Washtenaw County into that, but the Detroit metro-area black students are more suburban and small city (Ann Arbor) than inner-city urban at this point, reflecting broader demographic trends in Michigan.</p>
<p>“Hyper-literal”? No, but I don’t appreciate people spouting off pseudo-facts that appear to confirm whatever point they’re trying to make. In this case, as in so many others, I don’t know exactly what point you’re trying to make, but every post you make seems to be intended to somehow slime the University of Michigan by insinuation, often with phony information. Which is pretty pathetic.</p>
<p>^^I agree with bclintonk. It seems every thread started by alopez14 is in some way disparaging the University of Michigan. It’s becoming very annoying to say the least.</p>
<p>You’re wasting a lot of your time taking a comment hyper-literally. Here, I’ll fix that comment:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The point was that “Detroit black” isn’t isolated, as most of the black kids on campus come from cities with similar struggles. Black kids from affluent suburbs don’t encounter the issues this young man faces.</p>
<p>I like reading the article. He raises interesting points. </p>
<p>Why does a university near such a largely black city have such a small black student population? The probably has to do with Michigan banning affirmative action ([it’s</a> certainly affected black admissions in its law school.](<a href=“Seven Health Tips for Junior Associates - Above the Law”>Minority Enrollment Plummets Thanks To Michigan's Anti-Affirmative Action Statute - Above the Law)) Perhaps Michigan should look into a more holistic admissions approach than it currently has (similar to what the UCs have.) That might be harder for a school like UMich though since it’s really the only powerhouse university in its state.</p>
<p>Why is Michigan’s relationship with Detroit so poor? Wouldn’t it be good for Michigan’s students to have access to the amenities of a large city, and good for Detroit to have its economy stimulated by these students? How much effort does Michigan put into recruit promising black youth within the city?</p>
<p>These are all questions that should be asked and investigated. And i’m glad that he’s asking them.</p>
<p>@beyphy Black students already have it easy in admissions. As I previously stated, most are in the bottom percentiles regarding grades/testing. Most of Detroit’s students are not proficient in reading and math and are not prepared for college, especially not a top-tier institution.</p>
<p>Starting next month UMich will issue shuttles from Ann Arbor to Detroit on Fridays and Saturdays for students and staff to use free of charge…</p>
<p>As a prospective student from Detroit, I think UMich tries hard to recruit us. My classmates and I at the top of our class constantly receive invitations to events not only on campus, but events in Detroit as well. Again, even though I agree that there should be more black representation, I do not agree with compromising the quality of admitted students.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Fact is, the University of Michigan already uses a very holistic admissions approach. It is far less numbers-driven than most public universities, and in particular it places less emphasis on SAT/ACT scores than most selective public or private colleges and universities.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The university makes a big effort. It just falls short.</p>
<p>I think there are several factors at work here. One is that the state of the Detroit public schools is truly abysmal. Detroit public high schools graduated only 3,805 students in 2012. That’s only about 3.8% of the state’s high school graduates, in part reflecting a high dropout rate, but in part reflecting the fact that so many families have fled Detroit public schools. In contrast, you could easily reach that number of HS grads with just two or three of the dozens of suburban districts, e.g., Utica (2,183), Plymouth-Canton (1,354), and Livonia (1,285). The Dearborn, Rochester, Chippewa Valley (Clinton Twp., Macomb County), Walled Lake, Warren, and Ann Arbor districts also graduate more than 1,000, and many other suburban districts graduate many hundreds, e.g., Farmington (880), Troy (874), L’Anse Creuse (Macomb Co.) (802), Wayne-Westland (751), Bloomfield Hills (724), Southfield (721), Grosse Pointe (695), Huron Valley (Oakland Co.) (674), Waterford (662), Clarkston (597), Birmingham (588), Lake Orion (572), Novi (495), Brighton (492), Northville (478), Taylor (461), and on and on. So partly it’s just a pure numbers question: there just aren’t very many graduates of Detroit schools to begin with.</p>
<p>On the other hand, about 10% of the state’s HS graduates apply to the University of Michigan, and of those nearly half are accepted, of which probably 60% actually enroll. If those rates held, you’d have about 380 Detroiters applying and 190 admitted, with about 120 enrolling each year. The actual numbers might not be too far off those figures, but I suspect they’re a bit lower for a couple of reasons. One is qualifications. Detroit public schools do a poor job of preparing students academically, so probably well under 10% of DPS grads are academically qualified, even if the university bends its normal standards a bit, which it can and does do for geographic underrepresentation in the state and for things like being first-gen, overcoming personal hardships, etc., even though it is now prohibited by state law from expressly considering race. </p>
<p>Another factor is cultural. The Detroit area is sharply polarized by race and has been for many decades, probably as long as it has had a substantial black community. That racial polarization is as bad in Detroit as anyplace in the country. It manifests itself in many ways, but one of those ways is that it makes many black Detroiters apprehensive about venturing too far out into areas they perceive as “white.” And Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan are perceived to be part of “white” Michigan. As best I can tell, the university has worked very hard over the years to try to overcome this, but it’s an uphill struggle, and try as it might (especially in years when it could legally practice race-based affirmative action), the university has never achieved a “critical mass” of black students that would allow those with such apprehensions to feel they were on friendly ground. I think in fact many without those apprehensions have a very positive experience in Ann Arbor and at the university, but those cultural factors are difficult for a single institution to overcome in what is broadly perceived to be a racially hostile environment in the state.</p>