A university in Atlanta is getting a grant of $500,000 for diversification. Oglethorpe University received the grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the appointment of new faculty members.
At present, the school’s faculty is dominated by 82 percent whites, while African Americans constitute 6 percent, Asians 8 percent and Hispanics 3 percent.
Out of its 1,250 students, 38 percent are white, 24 percent are African American, and 11 percent are Hispanic, while the rest identify themselves as multiracial.
“Unlike many other residential liberal arts colleges, Oglethorpe has differentiated itself with its exceptional student diversity, as guided by its strategic plan and by capitalizing on an Atlanta location,” reads the college release.
According to Provost Glenn Sharfman, the goal of the university is to improve its faculty composition keeping in view the diversity of the enrolled students.
“Currently, our student body is substantially more diverse than our faculty, and we know that curricular offerings will be further enriched with a greater breadth of experiences and points of view in the classroom,” Sharfman said.
In 2014, the university was the recipient of a three-year Mellon grant to make innovations in its curriculum to reflect the diversity among its students.