LBC, Academic Retention Services discuss Diversity Awards
The meeting aimed to clarify requirements and present options.
Published Feb. 19, 2010
The Legion of Black Collegians and Academic Retention Services partnered at 6 p.m. Wednesday night in the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center to host an informational meeting with the theme "ARS: Dare to Ask."
ARS Director Linda Garth said the meeting was the first event in a series of meetings and activities, which stemmed from LBC partnering with ARS. She said she hopes these meetings will enhance the students' experiences at MU and help them to give students the help they need.
Students who have the Diversity Award, who are also required to use ARS, came to hear what Garth had to say and also to ask about the service.
"I think this event was necessary because there is a lot of talk about ARS on campus, especially among students and among my friends, and I just thought it would be a good event to actually bring to light what people had heard about ARS," LBC Communications Committee Co-chairwoman Cidney King said.
ARS is a service used by all Diversity Award recipients and there is a lot of confusion about what is offered and required, LBC Communications Committee Co-chairwoman Danielle Clifton said.
"A lot of people don't know that much about ARS, and a lot of people just kind of don't do the blogging that we talk about," Clifton said.
Freshman and sophomore Diversity Award recipients must blog once a month about their experiences. Failure to do so could result in losing the scholarship.
"I thought that we needed to have something like this so people don't end up losing their scholarships and think that they just don't get it back," Clifton said.
Garth said she came and spoke because she wanted to show her support for the partnership between LBC and ARS, which was re-established in August 2009, and she wanted to put a face to her name and make sure students know she is available as a resource.
"I wanted to expand that channel to hear their perspective and what their experiences are and just see what the buzz is about," Garth said.
Students can shape the service and their experience through it, Garth said.
"Stop telling us what you don't want and start telling us what you want, and I guarantee we will try to find an answer to that," Garth said.
Most students know ARS aims to help minority students keep their scholarships and graduate in greater numbers, but they are not clear on what is really offered and required, King said.
"I definitely do find that people have a lot of misconceptions about the program and don't understand necessarily the purpose of it and the positive benefits of it," King said.
The focus last night was on what ARS can do for black students, but ARS deals with all minority students and is available to any student on campus, to a certain extent, Garth said.
"One of the myths is that Academic Retention Services is only for students of color when in fact any student who is attempting to negotiate the environment at MU can come and talk to us and we can certainly point them in the right direction," Garth said.
LBC attempts to hold similar meetings on different topics monthly, Clifton said.
"I have an open door policy," Garth said. "There is nothing you could say to make me not want to help you. All discussions are welcome. Share your success stories, share your concerns, share who you are and what your needs are."