specific minority group by providing highly qualified group facilitators who are, themselves, members of that minority group. (2) Along with the experiences, the teacher is given knowledge of what she is experiencing and of the skills it takes to help others develop an awareness of their feelings. This is accomplished through feedback sessions after the communication experiences in the small groups, and through a minimum of well-planned lectures. (3) Finally, demonstrations by the instructors with representative children from the participant schools are held, both to model techniques and help teachers appreciate the legitimacy of such communicative experiences with children. are (my This triad of experiences (group experiences for teachers and children, plus the lectures) are repeated in two areas other than "awareness." The other areas "social interaction" ability to know and understand how I affect other people and how they affect me) and "mastery" (becoming aware of my feelings of adequacy or inadequacy, selfconcept, and developing a feeling of "I canness" about my ability to learn). Similar but slightly longer institutes are held with counseling, supervision, and administrative personnel to provide support and follow-through to the teachers as they struggle to implement this approach with children. After the educators are put through experiences relevant to the minority group members in their schools in the areas of awareness, mastery, and social-interaction, they are given materials they can use in their classrooms to encourage sim their ilar types of day-to-day communication experiences with children. The series of experiences constitute what is described as the Human Development Program (HDP). Developed along the three main themes of awareness, socialinteraction, and mastery, the HDP presents a sequential, cumulative set of experiences on a daily basis, designed to promote personal effectiveness and communication skills in children. For a third of the the year teacher spends 20 minutes each day (or every other day) with one half of her class, helping children develop an articulate awareness of their positive and negative feelings, thoughts, and behavior. The effect this has on children from divergent cultural groups is that inthey learn to develop an creasing awareness' of their similarities, as well as their differences. In addition to this, they discover that all have feelings, no matter what color they are. They are systematically exposed to their own feelings, thoughts, and behavior, and to those of their peers. They learn early, and continue to practice looking beyond color. For another third of the year, the teacher, in the same manner as in "awareness," spends time helping the child practice the art of understanding how he affects others and how they, in turn, affect him. It is here that the child begins to develop an increased responsibility for his acts and their effect on others. This type of activity is designed to get black and white, brown and black, or whatever the combination may be, to practice the elusive, yet critical art of understanding. Finally, interrelated as all three areas are, the children spend one third of the year developing a feeling of "I canness" in relationship to their school work, "mastery." Experiences are provided where the teacher and group help each other to understand the relevance of learning specific skills so as to increase motivation and develop a positive self-concept in children. The HDP, then, comprises a specific approach aimed at the task of increasing communication between educators and educators, teachers and children, and children and children. UVALDO H. PALOMARES, ED.D Dr. Palomares is director of the Human Development Training Institute in San Diego, California. He is also a consultant to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for its study of civil rights problems in the education of Mexican American children. 43 HIGH EDUCATION College still only a dream to most minority youth-is becoming reality for some dozens of white middle class campuses. The cry for equal rights that went up in the 1950's is now resounding through the ivied halls of academia. Social and political forces that believe the American ideal of equal educational opportunity for all should be more than just a dream are now pressing educators and university administrators to do something about meeting the educational needs and desires of all of America's youth. In response to this pressure, or because of fear of demonstrations or an awakening sense of moral obligation, some institutions are beginning to reach into the ghettos, reservations, and barrios to recruit and finance economically and educationally deprived students. These young people whose impossible dreams are coming true have been labeled "high risk" by the educators. The universities explain they are risking time, money, and their "standards" in admitting disadvantaged youth. But another risk for the university is that the education it is offering will be largely irrelevant to these students, who will, if only by their presence, challenge the institution to alter its operations, reassess its "standards," revise its curricula, and broaden its views. The real risk is that the ivy-bound university will disappoint the so-called high risk student. This risk is compounded by the fact that higher education has traditionally been geared to the white. middle or upper class student who maintains a Cor better average in his public or private high school, joins clubs, scores well on standardized tests, and enjoys a well-stocked bank account. These criteria are becoming even more significant as tuition fees and costs of living soar and as more students apply for the virtually static. number of classroom seats. The disadvantaged student admitted to one of the Nation's predominantly white colleges and universities. faces the same pressures that white middle class freshmen face. In addition, he is at a disadvantage. economically. Most importantly, however, the white middle class university-merely bewildering to the white student is likely to alienate the minority freshmen, for whom the university is not only new, but parochial, narrow, and culturally misinformed. Such basic problems are not overcome upon mastering the grading or fraternity system, locating all the buildings, or learning how to register. Most of the "high risks" are Negroes, but poor whites, Puerto Ricans, American Indians, and Mexican Americans are also included. "High risk" means different things on different campuses; generally, high risks are the mass of impoverished minority youth who may have spirit, creativity, and academic potential, but lack motivation, educational credentials, and money. They are victims of inferior segregated schooling or of token integration that relegated them to the bottom of their classes. Indeed, the so-called high risk status of these students is a direct result of a history of inadequate, irrelevant education. At least partly because of financial and educational deprivation, relatively few minority students have been admitted to college. A survey of enrollment at 80 white public universities conducted by John Egerton, staff writer for the Southern Education Reporting Service, shows that fewer than 2 percent of students were Negro-and these are schools that theoretically are most accessible to all. (Most Negro students still attend Negro colleges; a total of about five percent of the Nation's college students are Negro.) The survey also revealed that almost half of the present Negro enrollment in the predominantly white universities are freshmen, “apparently indicating an increase in the institutions' commitment this year to seek out and enroll Negroes," according to Egerton. At least part of this percentage increase is due to the recruitment of what universities consider to be high risk students. In another survey, Egerton queried 215 schools roughly 13 percent of the Nation's four-year institutions about their involvement in specifically "high risk" programs. Seventy-five percent of the institutions responded to Egerton's questionnaire; only 86 schools reported involvement in programs for high risk students. One third of the private schools answering Egerton's query reported no involvement in comparison to 60 percent of the responding public institutions. Responses from about 50 major public universities. mostly land-grant schools, indicate that almost three-quarters of them have no high risk activity. "On campuses where debate about higher education for high risks has begun, it often centers not on how to do it, but on whether it should be done at all," Egerton reported. "Many educators contend that the progressive effects of race and class discrimination are irredeemable by the time a youngster reaches college age, and others say that even if colleges could help they should not be expected to make up for the deficiencies of prior education." The reasons most frequently given for little or no involvement in high risk recruitment were shortage of funds, enrollment pressures, political worries, conflict with the institutional mission, fear of lowering institu tional standards, lack of faculty support, inflexibility of the institution's system, and priority commitment to regular students. "Among the colleges responding affirmatively," Egerton added, "it is difficult in some cases to ascertain how big a risk they are taking and what they are doing to make it pay off. Of the total, however, it appears that no more than 20 to 25 have drawn extensively from the array of possible resources to make college more accessible for a more heterogeneous group of students." Further, among institutions that do commit themselves to a high risk program, the scope and content of the programs differ greatly. The big issue seems to be whether to treat the disadvantaged students the same as, or more tenderly than, regular students. Egerton explains, "Some say high risk students have enough problems to overcome without the stigma of identification as a risk, and institutions that subscribe to this point of view make every effort to keep the students' academic and economic handicaps concealed, sometimes even from the students themselves. The opposite argument holds that students who are genuine risks must be given visible support-lighter class loads, special courses, extensive tutoring and the like or their chances for success will be greatly reduced. The risk students themselves understandably have mixed emotions about the questions, expressing at times both resentment and appreciation for either approach.” High Risks in Washington, D.C. In Washington, D.C., about six blocks from the White House, George Washington, a private university. sprawls without a campus. There are scores of tall buildings and old houses converted into dormitories, but no main quadrangle or park as a hub for campus activity. George Washington is primarily a white insti tution located in the Federal City, which is about 70 percent black. There are 5,500 undergraduates at GW, 200 of whom are black. Shortly after the civil disor ders of April 1968, GW started approaching disadvan taged youth from the city's black communities about attending the University on a tuition-remission basis. So far 20 have been enrolled. Harold Tate and Gerald Bell are two of them. HAROLD TATE: I was thrown into a fascinating and scary environment when I came here. During the first weeks I would walk down the street expecting someone to hit me on the head. Sometimes even now I'll be standing on a corner with some of my white friends and some other white guys will walk by and give me a you-don't-belong-here look. I was the first black friend a lot of people here ever had. Virtually all of my friends here are white and I have never been in such a situation before. At first we talked about the race situation and what it's like to be black, but that doesn't go on so much any more. At the beginning some of the professors tried too hard to make me feel at home. Sometimes they just smiled and smiled at me and broadcast it to the class when I made a good grade. I guess that at first we didn't know how to take each other. George Washington messes up in not allowing us to live on campus because we're D.C. residents. At least they didn't have room for us the first semester. At home no one stays up all night to study for a test; here they do. During orientation they took us on a tour that included the sections of the city burned out during last year's riots. I don't have to take a tour to see those areas; I can go there any time I want to. There's my home. As for the Black Student Union (BSU), I didn't join it. Last summer I would have gone along with anything they said. Now that I have started thinking for myself, BSU seems to be nothing more than a fad. GERALD BELL: I felt like I had to join BSU to avoid feeling like I was being pushed around. Last semester BSU helped students, and it's a good thing because I would not have known whom else to go to. I didn't know about the professors who were available to help students. The biggest thing wrong with GW's program is that they don't take enough students into it. As many as |