PSU Magazine Spring 2003

AROUND THE PARK.BIDC PSU student is first Oregon Gates scholar The philanthropy of Bill and Melinda Gates is sending a Portland State student, Eric Jensen '02, to the United Kingdom's top university, Cambridge. Jensen is the first Gates Cambridge Trust scholar in Oregon. A $210 million endowment from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation created the trust. Its sole purpose is Lo help the world's brightest young lead– ers and scholars undertake graduate work al Cambridge. Jensen, who is working toward a master's degree in communication studies, plans to pursue a doctorate in social and political science at Cambridge. Helping to relocate an outcast people A Portland Stale researcher has pub– lished a cultural orientation guide to the Somali Bantu, a group that will become the largest African refugee minority population ever Lo be resettled in the United States when some 12,000 Bantu begin arriving later this year. Daniel Van Lehman's article, "The Somali Bantu: Their History and Cul– ture," co-authored by Omar Eno, a Somali Bantu and a doctoral candidate at York University in Toronto, was published online (www.culturalmienta– tion.net/bantu) through an agreement with the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. Van Lehman, a senior fellow in PSU's Hatfield School of Government, is one of a handful of Americans with extensive firsthand knowledge of the Somali Bantu. He worked for years with the Bantu in Kenyan refugee camps where they fled in the early 1990s after civil war broke out in Somalia. The Bantu originally came Lo Soma– lia as slaves and have been subjugated or considered outcasts for nearly two centuries. As a result, they have had few opportunities in education or gov– ernment, says Van Lehman. "In many ways , the Bantu are well suited Lo resettle in the U.S.," says Van Lehman. "The Bantu have a strong work ethic, greatly value family and community relationships, and are tol– erant of other groups. " Portland is among the 50 U.S. cities identified as potential Bantu resettle– ment locations. D Controversial increase in freshmen GPA approved For the past 20 years, a grade point average of 2.5 opened the doors of Portland State to first-time freshmen. Despite two years of student protests, that threshold is increasing to 3.0 in fall 2004. The new requirement means incoming freshmen should have completed high school with a B average rather than a C-plus. University administrators were ready Lo take the GPA request to the Stale Board of Higher Education in 2001 and again in 2002, but student claims that their views were not represented short– circuited the process until the change was approved in February. Student groups worry that the increased GPA disproportionally affects students of color and low-income students. "It's not about ability," says Kristin Wallace, PSU student body president. "It's about the lack of resources dedicated to schools in minority and low-income areas-especially at a time when we are seeing budget cuts." Students also pointed to language barriers that could keep minority students from performing well enough in high school to have earned a 3.0 GPA. In meetings throughout fall term, University officials disputed the students' claims. Data for the fall 2002 fresh– man class shows that 91 percent wou ld have met the new 4 PSU MAGAZINE SPRING 2003 standard-and the figures for most minority groups are even higher. Only 8 percent of African American freshmen fell below a B average and the figure is a mere 4 percent for Latino freshmen. The average high school GPA of freshmen enrolled this past fall was 3.15, says Mary Kay Tetreault, PSU provost, and PSU freshmen in recent years have consistently scored above the current 2.5 GPA requirement. In addition, the University has alternate entrance paths for students with lower grades or less experience. For example, students with a cumulative SAT score of 1000 or above \vill get special considera– tion, and students can co-enroll al Portland Community College, which has no grade requirement. Also, up to 5 percent of stu– dents can be admitted on a case-by-case basis, and new admission programs are still being developed. The GPA requirement only affects incom– ing freshmen. Transfer students with more than 30 college credit hours will not be required to meet the new standard. Raising GPA minimums is a trend at many univer– sities. Oregon Institute of Technology also received approval in February from the State Board of Higher Education to raise its admission GPA from 2.5 to 3.0. University of Oregon had prior board approval to raise its minimum GPA for entering freshmen to 3.25 beginning in fall 2003.