Enrollment a problem

It appears that another whammy against Florida A&M University has emerged. And as usual, it seems that the destruction comes from within. The whammy: the decline of enrollment at the University.

Michael Abrams, a journalism professor was quoted in yesterday’s Tallahassee Democrat as saying, “There are not enough minority students to provide the number of students we want with 1000 SAT scores.”

However strongly Abrams may feel about this statement, doesn’t mean that it is true. There are plenty of students with high SAT scores, they just have to be found. The United States has millions of high school students, FAMU’s under graduate students add up to a little over 13,000 according to research.famu.edu. Within a pool of millions, there are plenty to come to FAMU. But, FAMU first has to step up its’ game.

The University’s destructive behavior has no doubt turned off potential students from attending, but that trend can’t be accepted.

Students have left the University. Some students have left because of a loss of athletic scholarships, some have left because of reappearing negative headlines in the Tallahassee Democrat, others have left because of multiple reasons.

So, if FAMU students are leaving, how should the University expect to gain new students? By staying clean.

Interim President Castell Bryant has cleaned house significantly. And though most do not agree with her methods or her reasoning behind such, she’s made moves quickly. The University is slowly going back to the way it should be, but after Bryant leaves, will it stay on that path? Hopefully.

Enrollment has declined at the University, perhaps there aren’t enough students here who have or had 1000 SAT scores, but potential Rattlers are out there.

The University just needs to keep its own clean and look a little harder. This problem should be a priority for the University and their efforts at addressing it should reflect that.