The Numbers

Enrollment percentages based on racial identity and ethnicity for the Lone Star College System (Fall 2014)

Recently, I have been thinking about numbers.  Well, more precisely, my thoughts on quantitative information, statistics, percentages, and other data are a direct result of the continued work that Professor Howard Rambsy II does at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.  Prof. Rambsy always has a range of quantitative data in mind, for he is committed to thinking about students and their experiences inside and outside of the classroom.

As a professor whose teaching and research interests are deeply rooted in African American Literature and Black Studies, his attention to numerical information and percentages concentrate on student enrollment, classes offered in African American Literature, and opportunities available for Black students at SIUE.

Now, this is a very beneficial and strategic approach - a quantitative approach is meaningful in a college environment.  Department chairs, deans, provosts, and presidents can more easily respond to and reflect on concrete quantities rather than abstract information.  We need to think about statistical details more in order to be proactive and conscious of our student populations.

My thinking about numbers right now relates mostly to composition courses.  Now, what would it mean if more folks were teaching composition with quantitative data in mind?  Rather than approaching composition from the age-old, mode-driven mentality, what if we looked at our student populations and made efforts to ensure that students were offered a writing space where their identities were reflected?  Many are doing this work at different colleges, including at my school.

Their classes, comprised largely of Latino and Black students, include readings that focus on the intersections of language, culture, racial, and gender identities and how those identities impact writing.  In these classes, you'll hear names such as Geneva Smitherman, Gloria Anzaldúa, and bell hooks alongside names such as Peter Elbow, Janet Emig, and David Bartholomae.

At a school with large numbers or percentages of Black and Latino students, as shown above (North Harris campus), including research, narratives, and testimonios from scholars and community members who discuss the impact and implications of writing, language, and identities should not be unique - it should be the norm.  Let's do the numbers.