Home / Full timeline / The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that a study by the American Council on Education and the Education Commission of the United States had concluded that America must renew its commitment to the advancement of minority groups or jeopardize the future prosperity of the nation.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that a study by the American Council on Education and the Education Commission of the United States had concluded that America must renew its commitment to the advancement of minority groups or jeopardize the future prosperity of the nation.

1988 (Mar 25)

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that a study by the American Council on Education and the Education Commission of the United States had concluded that America must renew its commitment to the advancement of minority groups or jeopardize the future prosperity of the nation. The Council and Commission report stated that "America is moving backward—not forward—in its efforts to achieve the full participation of minority citizens in the life and prosperity of the nation." The report, entitled "One Third of a Nation," also documented that "in education, employment, income, health, longevity, and other basic measures of individual and social well-being, gaps persist—and in some cases are widening—between members of minority groups and the majority population. ... If we allow these disparities to continue, the United States inevitably will suffer a compromised quality of life and a lower standard of living.... In brief, we find ourselves unable to fulfill the promise of the American dream." "One Third of a Nation" emerged from a project established in 1987 by the American Council on Education and the Education Commission of the United States because of concern over a series of racial incidents on college and university campuses and the declining proportion of minority students in college. The report noted specifically that in 1986, 31.1 percent of the nation's Blacks and 27.3 percent of its Hispanics had incomes below the poverty level-nearly three times the rate for Whites. Also, in 1986, 20.1 percent of Whites over age twenty-five had completed at least four years of college. For Blacks, the completion rate was only 10.9 percent and for Hispanics, only 8.4 percent. In the same year, Blacks were twice as likely to be unemployed than were Whites. As a result of its findings, the report recommended, among other things, that colleges and universities, particularly: 1) recruit minority students more aggressively; 2) create an academic atmosphere that nourishes and encourages minority students to stay enrolled and to succeed; 3) create a campus culture that values the diversity minorities bring to institutional life—one that responds powerfully and forthrightly to the recrudescences of racism that have occurred too often on campus in recent years; 4) place special emphasis on inspiring and recruiting minority candidates for faculty and administrative positions; and 5) work with educators at the primary and secondary levels to improve the education, training, and preparation of minority students.