"Homecoming guest: Recruit, support minorities," October 26, 1990

Homecoming guest: Recruit, support minorities By Linda Hartmann The Press-Citizen The University of Iowa can do many things to diversify its ranks, the honored Homecoming guest said Thursday. The guest, Jewel Limar Prestage of Cypress, Texas, said a combination of recruiting, support and other academic changes would make the university more racially diverse. Prestage was graduated from UI in 1954 as the first black woman to receive a doctorate in political science from a U.S. university. She returned to UI to give a lecture as part of Homecoming activities. Prestage said when she returned to UI in 1987-88 as a visiting professor, the university was just beginning its Opportunity at Iowa program to increase numbers of minority students and faculty. One idea behind it, she said, was that Iowa students didn't get a complete education if they didn't interact with students who were not white. "Certainly that's a laudable goal," she said. But the university also must diversify its curriculum, activities and opportunities, Prestage said. The university must intensify efforts to recruit minority faculty and support staff, she said. It also could forge ties with universities that historically graduate more minority students. The commitment to diversification at UI is in place, she said. "But it is going to be very, very difficult to fulfill." Many factors present problems: high drop out rates for minority high school students, increases in racial incidents on campuses, poverty among minority families, and universities located far from communities with substantial minority populations. Prestage was chairman of the political science department at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., where she earned her undergraduate degree. Southern University has graduated more black students who went on to get doctorates in political science than any other U.S. university. In 1973, tow black women in the United States got doctorates in the field. Both came from Prestage's department. Prestage also has worked on state, regional and national levels to promote greater access for women and minorities in the political science profession. Prestage now is interim dean and honors professor of political science in the Benjamin Baneker Honors College at Prairie View, Texas, University. University of Iowa Libraries. University Archives