Members of ‘Six Directions,’ Penn’s Native American cultural group, on college green.

How many Native Americans are there at Penn? Well, just 2 in the Class of 2008. One dozen in the Class of 2009. And 11 in this year’s Class of 2010.

If we cast back to 2003, when official figures are available, we can see that minority enrollment in schools like SEAS is also shamefully small. The school graduated just one Native American student that year.

These dismally low numbers put the number of Native Americans on campus just about on par with the number of people at Penn who deal illegally in cocaine on the side, people from Wyoming, or people who can name George Bush’s pet cat .

Yet new initiatives promise to boost minority enrollment. Last year, Penn followed in the footsteps of its sister Ivies by implementing a no-loan policy for financial aid recipients with annual family incomes of $50,000 or below. It also began to accept the Common Application rather than relying solely on the old Penn-specific admissions application. Both these changes encouraged underrepresented minorities to apply in greater numbers.

In a more targeted direction, Penn also runs a Multicultural and Diversity Day where admitted students can mingle with administrators and experience college life firsthand. Two years ago, I was one of those prospective minority students. Matched up with peers, we spent the weekend camped out in the rooms of Penn undergraduates, tramped about on campus, and wined and dined with admissions directors.

All in all, not a bad job. Yet, apart from the admissions side of the equation, Penn can harness its academic and cultural resources to both encourage Native American enrollment and cater to the small Native American population on campus.

One shining example stands out—the American Indian Cultures residential program on the 20th floor of Harrison College House. Currently in its inaugural year, the program began thanks to the initiative of Penn’s own Native American cultural group, Six Directions . These measures highlight how crafting a diverse campus is not only about tallying the numbers but reaching out to peers. The best way to boost Native American enrollment is to foster a better environment for minority groups on already campus. This includes promoting classes that feature Native American history , hiring more Native American faculty, obtaining grant and research money to conduct research on Native American issues, and hosting cultural events from scholarly lectures to powwows. Half the purpose of cultivating diversity is allowing traditions to be shared. At Penn, if we can’t always create a perfect chorus of minority voices, we can at least allow these voices to be heard above the fray.

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