APM Reports

Listen to Lumina-supported podcasts about race on campus.

Students of color want a safer, more equitable college experience. Colleges and universities are trying to keep up.

Exploring Racial Climate on American College Campuses

Black girl, white college | March 19

When it was time for me to enroll in a four-year college, I chose North Dakota State, a school that's mostly white, conservative and insular – everything I wasn't. It was the hardest year of my life.

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A note from Lumina's president

Lumina President and CEO Jamie Merisotis

We are pleased to share this podcast series from the education team at American Public Media. Lumina Foundation supported this independent look at the racial climate on college campuses in response to a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. In August 2017, protestors who self-identified as white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and members of other hate groups proudly marched through the University of Virginia campus with torches, bearing weapons and chanting racist and antisemitic slogans. We found the protest unsettling and reprehensible. We are committed to ending systemic inequalities in education that not only weaken the economy but also jeopardize the future of American democracy. And we wanted to better understand how today’s students are encountering race on campus. We invite you to listen and learn.

Lumina-supported podcasts explore race on campus

Joanna Anyanwu of the Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign leads a rally in front of the building that houses top Harvard administrators on March 1, 2019.

A conundrum for student advocates: change their school or change society? | March 12, 2020

Unlike protesters at many universities, activists at Harvard seek social justice reforms beyond campus.

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Graduation day at Howard University, a historically black university in Washington, D.C. Howard is among a number of HBCUs increasing the number of international students on campus.

At some HBCUs, enrollment rises from surprising applicants | March 5

After decades of declining enrollment, HBCUs are seeing an uptick in new applicants, especially among Latino and international students.

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The Washington Ave. bridge at the University of Minnesota connects the campus across the east and west banks of the Mississippi River. It's been the site of a running battle of words on campus during the last three years.

How colleges are mishandling racial tensions on campus | Sept. 12

As administrators navigate issues of inclusion and free speech, students of color have been left to find their own way.

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The Memorial Tower at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. LSU is Louisiana's flagship university, but it's never reflected the demography of the state itself. LSU's enrollment office is trying to change that, and to recruit more African American high school seniors who previously wouldn't have considered the school.

Flagship universities don't reflect their states' diversity | Sept. 5

The number of Black and Latino students enrolling in state flagship schools doesn't reflect states' ethnic diversity.

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Stories about education, opportunity, and how people learn.

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