Md. College, Once A Pioneer, Works To Regain Diversity

St. John's College in Annapolis is reaching out to students in an effort to raise minority enrollment. Here, Old Mill Middle School South students Katherine Smolen, left, and Khaleed Robinson tour the college's library. (By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)

All his life, Martin Dyer's diploma had been a symbol of pride. It told of how, in 1948, Dyer became the first African American student to attend St. John's College in Annapolis and how the college became the first south of the Mason-Dixon line to voluntarily desegregate.

It wasn't until more than five decades later, when Dyer returned to sit on the college's governing board, that he saw the enrollment figures and realized that something had gone wrong. There were even fewer black students on campus than in the 1950s after Dyer graduated, and the percentage of minorities overall had dwindled into single digits.

St. John's, the tiny liberal arts college that had been a pioneer in diversity, had just a fraction of the state and national average for minority enrollment.

Dyer quickly issued a call to arms, writing letters to fellow alums and, with others, forming a committee to tackle the issue. And over the past three years, a movement has taken root to lure minority students and infuse more diversity into the culture of the campus in historic downtown Annapolis.

Colleges across the nation are taking another look at minority enrollment. This fall, universities in 17 states created an initiative to drastically improve enrollment and achievement among minority and low-income students by 2015.

Last month, the University System of Maryland announced it would join the effort. Although minority enrollment overall has increased gradually at most colleges, minorities are still underrepresented.

Military institutions, such as the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, also have plans to increase minority enrollment. Last week, the Naval Academy's new superintendent deemed it one of his top goals during his four-year term. Still, the issue is especially dramatic at St. John's and particularly acute because of its nature and size.

The school is mostly known for its eccentric program, built entirely upon the "great books." In lieu of tests and lectures, students hold discussions on the writings of Aristotle and Dostoevsky. Instead of math textbooks, they study the centuries-old texts of Euclid, founder of a branch of geometry.

Almost every aspect of class and life at St. John's is steeped in classical tradition.

"I tell high school students about the waltz parties and croquet battles, and they just start laughing. They say, 'Oh God, so no hip-hop parties,' " recruiter Ebony Bowden said.

Bowden, a black woman with an easy manner and infectious laugh, was hired last year to spearhead the college's minority recruitment effort. As the admissions counselor for diversity -- a position created two years ago -- her mission is to change the school's image as a place for well-off, white students.

Week after week, she hosts receptions, writes letters, calls and pursues students of color she thinks might like St. John's. But often, it can be a tough sell.