Black College Diversifies, Luring Russian Town

Sistermadly · #1 03-13-2003, 08:51 PM

A friend sent this to me - apparently one of the (white) Russian female students pledged an NPHC sorority. I have to warn you though - some of the comments they made about this particular HBCU were pretty unflattering.

From the NY Times
March 12, 2003

March 12, 2003

Black College Diversifies, Luring Russian Town
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER

LORMAN, Miss., March 7 — It is not easy getting white students to come here, to Alcorn State University, a tiny, historically black campus tucked away in the lush green isolation of southwestern Mississippi, 25 miles from the nearest McDonald's or movie theater.

So when the new coach of the tennis team, Tony Dodgen, recruited a player from Russia back in 1998, no one had any reason to think that he had stumbled upon the way to make Alcorn more inviting to white Mississippians. How could one white face make a difference?

But then the player, Mikhail Frolov, persuaded his girlfriend to join him. The two each brought more of their friends over from Russia. And Mr. Frolov's mother, a high school English teacher, began to tell her students about the university in America that was giving away full scholarships.

Four and a half years later, Alcorn is home to a thriving pod of Russians. Mr. Frolov is a certified public accountant, and no fewer than 23 students from his hometown, Voronezh, are enrolled here as undergraduates studying literature or business, as graduate students in nursing or computer science, as athletes or musicians, and even as unexceptional students with a flair for throwing off-campus parties where everyone is welcome, and where language and race add up to even less of a social barrier than the drinking age.

Now, Alcorn's president, Clinton Bristow, looks at his Russian students and sees hope for the kind of racial diversity that he has long desired for this school, and that the courts have mandated for Mississippi's formerly segregated public colleges and universities. If Alcorn ever achieves such diversity, he says, it will be because white Mississippians decide they can be comfortable here.

And though he would never say so in a recruiting brochure, that is where his conspicuous Russians come in.

"You like to see more people that look like you, even though they might be from a different culture," Dr. Bristow said. "They've made it possible to ease race relations, and in a state that has had some difficulty with racial issues in the past."

Alcorn, founded in 1871, has been caught up in those difficulties for 28 years, ever since a black sharecropper, Jake Ayers, sued the state, contending that its three black public universities — Alcorn, Jackson State, and Mississippi Valley State — had been neglected for decades. Mr. Ayers demanded equal financing and facilities for the black campuses, and the case eventually reached the Supreme Court, which ruled for the plaintiffs in 1992.

But settlement talks dragged on for a decade. Finally, a year ago, a federal judge approved a $503 million settlement, to be spread over 17 years: the state would pay $246 million for academic programs, $75 million for construction, and up to $105 million for endowments, but the public universities would have to reach at least 10 percent nonblack enrollment for three consecutive years before they could gain full control over their endowments.

So the pressure to recruit white students is intense at Alcorn — even as historically black colleges across the country are doing the same, whether to satisfy court orders or self-imposed diversity goals, or merely to make up for declining black enrollment.

At Alcorn today, 261 white students make up 8.3 percent of the student body — more than twice the percentage five years ago. But all but a few dozen are enrolled in graduate programs at Alcorn's satellite campuses in Natchez and Vicksburg, a spokeswoman said.
Dr. Bristow, who became president in 1995 and is now a finalist for the presidency of Towson University in Maryland, already had some money to invest in scholarships for nonblack students when Mr. Dodgen approached him at the end of his dismal first year as tennis coach.

Mr. Dodgen had sent letters to hundreds of high schools and potential recruits across the country, but struggled to get the attention of anyone outside Mississippi. Then he learned of a Web site for international high school athletes, and saw Mr. Frolov's name and tennis credentials.

Sight unseen, he offered Mr. Frolov a full scholarship at Alcorn. Sight unseen, Mr. Frolov — who had spent a year as an exchange student in Idaho and desperately wanted to return to the United States — accepted.

Coach Dodgen did not stop at Mr. Frolov, who was the Southwest Athletic Conference men's champion in 2000 and graduated in 2001 with a 3.7 grade-point average. He recruited Australians and Czechs and Africans, and eventually even some Americans, and has taken the team to the conference championships every year since 1999.

Mr. Frolov said he did not give much thought to Alcorn's reputation in the United States. "After I saw the full scholarship, I really didn't care where I go," he said.

And for the Russian students who have arrived since, the calculation is much the same.

"It's not the best school, but just to get to the States — " said Dmitryi Chernyshev, 18, a sophomore, biding his time in the student union between midterm exams.

"It's worse than the education we had in Russia," said Alex Alexandrov, 20, a senior. "But it's America."

To save money for car or bus trips to New Orleans or the Gulf Coast beaches or to raves as far away as Miami, Mr. Alexandrov and three other students rent a room from an elderly woman 15 miles from campus. "We pay the electric and do a lot of gardening," Mr. Alexandrov said, and their landlady tolerates his drum playing.

Mr. Chernyshev and three others are living in a beat-up trailer a few paces outside the barbed-wire fence that rims the campus, just beyond the jurisdiction of the campus police. Their trailer has become the next best thing to a nightclub here.

Despite its role in their coming here, race seems of little consequence once they arrive, the Russian students said. Two Russian women made it onto Alcorn's Golden Girls sideline dance team; another was runner-up in a football-weekend pageant; still another pledged the Zeta Phi Beta sorority.

Mr. Frolov, the first Russian alumnus, said he never encountered racism until he left Alcorn to get his master's degree at the University of Mississippi. "At Ole Miss, some older people I talked to would make racist jokes or remarks, and I could see how racism happens," he said. "At Alcorn I didn't see it."

Catron Curtis, 24, a junior who has befriended several of the Russian students, said their presence on campus rarely prompted a second look anymore. "I think this school is real good at accepting people from different cultures," he said, adding, without a trace of sarcasm: "We had those people from Nebraska — Bill and Scott? And they were like the most popular people here."

David Kirkland, 23, a senior, said: "I'm actually closer to some of the Russians than some of the other African-American students on campus. It's difference. I like difference."

Stereotypes do surface, but friends laugh them off.

"Me, I'm thinking, the cold war — they just got through with Communism — they must be spies," Mr. Kirkland said. "I was totally ignorant at first."

Without naming names, Thomas Walker, 22, a senior, recounted how "One Russian told me we're all lazy, but he said it's because we drive anywhere we go on campus."

He laughed, and confessed: "It's true. Me, I can't walk a half a step."

Whether or not Dr. Bristow's grand plan succeeds in attracting white Mississippians to Alcorn, it is already raising sights, opening minds, fueling imaginations.

At lunch in the cafeteria, Benny Crawford, 25, talks of opening a business with a branch in Voronezh one day — and tries out his come-ons on Maria Pankova, 22. "Kak dela?" he says — How are you? — with a big smile and an accent straight out of Richton, Miss.

There are plenty of accents here, after all, and they are mutating all the time. There is Steve Fitzsimons, the Australian junior who curses in Russian.

And there is Eugenia Merculova, 22, the first Russian woman at Alcorn, who graduated two years ago and now works full time for the university. Her clipped consonants and turned vowels still give away her origins, but those vie with an acquired drawl that makes "but" rhyme with foot. "I've been told I have a ghetto accent," she said, not exactly sure what to think.

How this experiment will work for the Russian students, too, remains to be seen. It is an article of faith for them that their opportunities after graduation will be far greater here than in Russia. But while Mr. Frolov recently passed his C.P.A. exam and works for a big accounting firm in Nashville, Ms. Merculova worries that she will spend the rest of her days in America here at Alcorn, until her work visa expires.

Fearing visa trouble if she left the country, Ms. Merculova said she had not returned home in two years. Her mother, who has never visited the United States, arrived for a two-week visit tonight.

"I asked her what she wanted to do, where she wanted to go," Ms. Merculova said. "She said, `I just want to hold you.' "

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company |Privacy Policy

cash78mere · #2 03-13-2003, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sistermadly
A friend sent this to me - apparently one of the (white) Russian female students pledged an NPHC sorority. I have to warn you though - some of the comments they made about this particular HBCU were pretty unflattering.
\

which part are you referring to that would make your blood boil?

Sistermadly · #3 03-13-2003, 09:03 PM

Just in how they were talking about how bad the school was -- but since it was in America, they decided to attend.

It made me a little upset to read that because I was thinking that there are lots of students who would jump at a free ride to school - and be a little more gracious about it.

AKA2D '91 · #4 03-14-2003, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sistermadly
Alexandrov, 20, a senior. "But it's America."

Despite its role in their coming here, race seems of little consequence once they arrive, the Russian students said. Two Russian women made it onto Alcorn's Golden Girls sideline dance team; another was runner-up in a football-weekend pageant; still another pledged the Zeta Phi Beta sorority.

I saw their Golden Girls during football season. We did not realize they were Russian.

There isn't anything wrong with it, but they did lack the "traditional" Golden Girl ummmmmm how should I say it? Style. Yeah, style. Let's say, they stuck out not because of their color, but dance ability as compared to those born and bread in and around Lorman.

miss priss · #5 04-30-2003, 07:06 AM

As an Alcornite alum, I am HIGHLY upset with the comments made in this article! The implications made towards schools in America particularly, HBCU's IS offensive. The education you recieve from Alcorn CAN be compared with any school anywhere! If our education sucks, then why are you (t)here? I mean you can go to U of M, Standford, etc. on a free ride!

Let me also say that why is it when a HBCU increases its enrollment by a few folk it's national headlines but when an HWCU does it-- it's not important. Alcornites could careless about your skin color ! It's not the skin color that teaches you. How ignorant can the people in this article be! Everything in this article is racially offensive to me!

Not to mention, the person who wrote this article is a yank, a New Yorker whose probably had very little exposure to the South and its culture and particularly the history that exists with Alcorn State University! Did he try to find more than one positive quality about my alma mater before he wrote this article? Obviously not!

We turn out highly successful lawyers, doctors, actors/actresses, athletes, and the like---with more than just a few! This letter will be forwarded to my national alumni association and it will be dealt with! Just ask Tom Joyner about us!

rushqueen44 · #6 04-30-2003, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Not to mention, the person who wrote this article is a yank, a New Yorker whose probably had very little exposure to the South and its culture and particularly the history that exists with Alcorn State University!

Well that's one hell of a broad assumption.

FYI, some people from the northern half of the United States don't really appreciate being called "yanks." The war is over. Has been for a while.

dzandiloo · #7 04-30-2003, 01:00 PM

I can see where the comment that "this is worse than the education" they get in Russia might be offensive, but try to remember that English is not their first language, and as with any language, things get lost in the interpretation. I took his comment to mean that academically, they would get a better education in Russia--quite possibly b/c it would be in their native tongue, or simply that the education would be more focused & single minded (like task based). Also--do they have sororities & football games w/crazed parties as a part of college life in Russia? I think it comes down to a comparison of the entire college experience-and would venture to guess that he was just talking strict academics.
I don't know...I just think they should be given the benefit of the doubt, and we shouldn't automatically assume that they meant to degrade the school.

miss priss · #8 05-01-2003, 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by rushqueen44
Well that's one hell of a broad assumption.

FYI, some people from the northern half of the United States don't really appreciate being called "yanks." The war is over. Has been for a while.

You are what YOU think YOU are! When I used the term "yank" I meant it sarcastically to bring to light the realities that HBCU's deal with in terms of ignorant articles like these. It is these types of articles that are indicative of the stereotypes that exist in American (higher) education.

FYI, contrary to your opinion the war on racism is NOT over.
So, if you took offense to a "broad assumption" you should have because I want people to see how it "feels" to make a "broad assumption" about ASU!

If you still have issues pm me and maybe I can shed some light on the lawsuits that involves this discussion.

33girl · #9 05-01-2003, 10:23 AM

She didn't mention anything about racism. I believe she was referring to the assumption that simply because someone writes for the NY Times, they are a born and bred New Yorker who's never been south of Staten Island. For all we know, this writer could have grown up in Mississippi and moved to NYC a year ago.

I don't think the writer was being a jerk - he was just reporting what the people he interviewed said. He didn't make the comments about the school's academics, the Russian students did. This article wasn't to be a recruiting tool or PR for ASU, just talking about the situation of so many Russian students coming to the school.

IvySpice · #10 05-01-2003, 11:26 AM

I agree with you, 33girl. The students gave their opinions; the writer reported them.

If this article had been about my alma mater, and students there had insulted the education it offers, I'd be disappointed to learn that some students there don't appreciate and love it the way I did. But you can't make everyone feel the same way. If he thinks the education he had in Russia was academically stronger than the one at Alcorn, well, who's to say that he should keep that opinion to himself? He's the one that actually attended both schools. Maybe he was going to the M.I.T. of Russia. Who knows?

I actually came away from the article with a positive view of Alcorn. I knew virtually nothing about it, and the article left me with the impression that it has a very tight-knit and open-minded student body and strong tradition. If I am at all typical of Northerners reading this article, I imagine that it's going to help Alcorn's image, not hurt it.

Ivy

JerzeeBoy26 · #11 05-01-2003, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by miss priss
You are what YOU think YOU are! When I used the term "yank" I meant it sarcastically to bring to light the realities that HBCU's deal with in terms of ignorant articles like these. It is these types of articles that are indicative of the stereotypes that exist in American (higher) education.

FYI, contrary to your opinion the war on racism is NOT over.
So, if you took offense to a "broad assumption" you should have because I want people to see how it "feels" to make a "broad assumption" about ASU!

If you still have issues pm me and maybe I can shed some light on the lawsuits that involves this discussion.

First of all, you need to calm down. its just an atricle. if you are really comfortable with what your school is and stands for, you shouldn't care what a few students think. second of all, I believe the "war" being referred to is what we yanks know as the Civil War and what those in the lower 48 call the War of Northern Aggression...

miss priss · #12 05-01-2003, 02:30 PM

1. First of all, you need to calm down. its just an atricle.

First of all I am calm and to Alcornites it is NOT just an article. When articles,such as these, are published they are damaging to HBCUs. Whether you want to believe it or not, it attacks the academic credibility of these schools of which it takes a LONG time to build and rebuild the reputation. Alcorn is one of many schools that welcomes ALL races, nationalities, creeds and the likes. But when people put out articles such as these they ARE damaging. In order to understand, you must understand the history regarding higher education at HBCUs particularly ASU and why it is important to keep a positive image at ALL times.

2. I agree with you, 33girl. The students gave their opinions; the writer reported them.

I agree, the students are entitled to an opinion and a writer should be free to report those opinions. Unfortunately, it truly damages us.

3. She didn't mention anything about racism.

She didn't have to....The person and or students who commented in this article may very well not be racist. However, it is articles like these that fuel racist actions against HBCUs.

4. I actually came away from the article with a positive view of Alcorn. I knew virtually nothing about it, and the article left me with the impression that it has a very tight-knit and open-minded student body and strong tradition. If I am at all typical of Northerners reading this article, I imagine that it's going to help Alcorn's image, not hurt it.

I am glad that you felt positive. But I can not stress that it does NOT help our image at all.

Do your research, learn about us (HBCUs), and if you are just lazy and still want to know pm me---I'll do my best to explain. Peace.

aurora_borealis · #13 05-01-2003, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JerzeeBoy26
First of all, you need to calm down. its just an atricle. if you are really comfortable with what your school is and stands for, you shouldn't care what a few students think. second of all, I believe the "war" being referred to is what we yanks know as the Civil War and what those in the lower 48 call the War of Northern Aggression...

Everything other than Hawaii is "The Lower 48". Perhaps you mean below the Mason Dixon Line? I know in California, and Alaska, we called it "The Civil War".

rushqueen44 · #14 05-01-2003, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Do your research, learn about us (HBCUs), and if you are just lazy and still want to know pm me---I'll do my best to explain. Peace.

I don't get it. You get all fired up about people making broad assumptions about Alcorn, and yet you turn around and do the same thing.

Why do you assume that I don't know anything about HBCU's?

And I was not talking about the war on racism. I agree that racism is still a prevalent issue in this country. So is ignorance.

In case you're too lazy to look it up, the term Yank was a term used by confederate states prior to, during and after the civil war to refer to those who lived north of the Mason Dixon line. When used, the term indicated that a person from the "north" was rude, unrefined and lacked "southern grace."

Hence, I find it just as offensive as you find the comments in the article referring to the quality of education available at your alma mater.

"Hi, Pot? This is the Kettle. You're black."

Sistermadly · #15 05-01-2003, 05:29 PM

Boy, it sure is interesting to see how threads mutate after you post an article.

When I posted this, I was interested in seeing whether anyone would discuss the issue of the white student(s) in the NPHC sorority mentioned in the piece. There seems to be a lot of bandwidth used on GC to debate Blacks in NPC/NIC orgs, so I just wanted to see if the reverse is true.

The statements the students made about Alcorn made me upset, not because they were racist, but because there are a lot of American students who would KILL for a free college education - at Alcorn or anywhere else - and be a bit more gracious about it. Of course, maybe the sentiment expressed in the article is an example of cross-cultural communication gone haywire, who knows.