African Americans
A college where the graduation rate for black students has been 0 percent — for years
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Several Ohio campuses have abysmal success rates for black college students, even as the state pushes for, and desperately needs, more graduates
This story about Kent State Ashtabula was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s newsletter. ASHTABULA, Ohio — Alexis Turner listened carefully as the administrators at the freshman orientation for Kent State University at Ashtabula ticked through the student groups she could join on campus that fall: English Society, Psychology Club, Student Veterans Association.
She left the auditorium apprehensive. There was no Black Student Union, Latino Student Union or Multicultural Society.
Once the semester started, it became more apparent why those clubs don’t exist.
“There’s not a lot of black representation,” said Turner, a black freshman. Kent State Ashtabula is in a rural county near Cleveland, where black and Latino students make up about a third of the local high school.