Frostburg State University Achievement Gap Report

Here at Frostburg State University, I am the Executive Vice President of a major organization on campus called the Black Student Alliance. Our organizations goal is, “To represent and address the needs of the African-American student body and to culturally enrich the campus the campus as a whole through programs and lectures.” This year alone we have gained over 50 active members, and have had a turnout of more than 70 members at every event. Attending a predominantly White institution would be very difficult if there were no cultural groups on campus. We as African American student leaders at this predominantly White institution are making a huge difference by being the reason that most people of our culture graduate in less than six years. Studies show that, “One explanation for those low graduation rates is minority students' inability to find membership in the cultures and subcultures of their respective campuses.” Frostburg State University’s Achievement Gap Report from March 2013 concludes that the average graduation rate of African Americans was almost equivalent to Frostburg’s overall graduation rate during that time period. The Black Student Alliance, as well as the National Association Advancement for Colored People (NAACP), and the

I totally agree with this study because with such a small school with an even smaller African American population on campus we as African Americans stick together for the most part, and with that being said, majority of us African American students either are general body members, or occasionally attend a culturally based organization’s event which is basically a support program for