The event for African American scholars scheduled before the Hardwood Classic Tuesday, Nov. 23, in the Seattle Center had to be canceled due to bad weather.
High achieving African American high school seniors and community college students in the Seattle area were invited to attend a special program prior to the annual Cougar Hardwood Classic basketball game in Key Arena. The program was to inform students and parents about academic and scholarship offerings, as well as provide an opportunity to meet faculty, staff, students and alumni.
Following the program, participants planned to watch the WSU Cougars take on the Portland Pilots.
“The response to our invitation has been amazing,” said Milton Lang, senior associate vice president for the Office of Student Affairs and Enrollment. “We had to cap registration for this event because we simply do not have enough space to accommodate everyone.”
Lang said the university will provide other opportunities for students to engage with faculty, staff, students and alumni.
According to WSU’s Office of Institutional Research, the number of domestic minority students who enrolled as freshmen in the fall grew from 21 percent in 2009 to 23 percent in 2010. Multicultural transfer students rose from 21 to 24 percent. Students of color make up 18.3 percent of WSU’s student body as compared to 16.2 percent last year.
In addition to African American scholars at the Hardwood Classic, WSU hosts outreach programs, called Imagine U @ WSU, in the Tri-Cities, Spokane, Vancouver, Chelan and Seattle/Tacoma areas. Also, students take the lead yearly to organize recruitment conferences on the Pullman campus that cater to African American, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Chicano/Latino and Native American students.