When Maritza Rodriguez transferred to Chico State from Cal Poly Pomona, she said she felt like she was the only Mexican in town.
In Pomona, she said the classrooms were mixed with different races and the genders were more equal. Although she has only been in Chico for six weeks, she said she has noticed a lack of diversity at Chico State.
"Here, there are a lot of girls," she said. "And a lot of white people."
The preliminary fall 2004 census report of enrolled first-year and transfer students shows that Chico State had a 4 percent increase from 25 percent to 29 percent for minority students admitted.
However, those who are actually coming to Chico State has stayed at 21.8 percent. But administrators say they understand the need to admit more minority students, but encourage them enroll as well.
The number of black and Hispanic students being admitted has risen. The black admits increased to 2.4 percent from fall 2003's 1.9 percent. The Hispanic admits increased to 15.9 percent from fall 2003's 14.2 percent. But the freshman diversity of those groups has stayed the same or decreased, John Swiney, dean of admissions said in an e-mail.
According to the U.S. News & World Report Web site, Chico State is ranked No. 74 in a diversity ranking of 117 master's level schools in the West. The only other California State Universities ranked behind Chico State are Sonoma State, ranked No. 76, and Humboldt State at No. 79.
To increase the number of minority students in the applicant pool, Swiney said the university has added recruitment activities.
He said it purchases the names of minority students who have taken their PSATs during their junior year of high school and invites them to visit Chico State. They also make the names available to several diversity recruitment programs on campus.
The university works closely with high schools that have a large population of minorities and invite them to take hosted tours of Chico State. The university also sends people to college recruitment fairs where there is a large population of minorities, he said.
It also contacts all Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search students, Swiney said, who have participated in Chico State programs and personally invites them to apply for admission.
Swiney also said Chico State has been added to the national Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities list of top Hispanic-serving institutions.
"Since entering into contracts with this organization we have seen Latino applications increase from 1522 to 2491; 63.7 percent," Swiney said.
President Paul Zingg said the increase of minority students being admitted to Chico State is an indication of the university's efforts to increase diversity.
He said, however, the amount of diverse students that actually apply means there is still more work that needs to be done to convince these students to attend.
"To succeed in this regard, we need to revisit our current strategies and enlist others," he said.
But Rodriguez said she thinks those who are diverse and are admitted to Chico State aren't enrolling because Chico is a small town they aren't familiar with.
She said here in Chico, many people live in a bubble.
"That's going to be a problem when they get out into the big cities," she said. "It's going to be culture shock."
But not all minority students feel out of place in Chico. Kush Chohan, a senior, said the lack of diversity has a lot to do with Butte County being in a rural, farming area.
"Minorities usually like living in urban areas because of jobs," he said.
Chohan said he never feels out of place and hasn't noticed a big change in diversity on campus since he's been here.
He said, however, Chico does have a friendly atmosphere that most people, including minorities, are looking for.
"There are a lot of polite people who say good morning and say hi," he said. "I've never experienced that before."
Swiney said most of the first-year applicants come from areas that are more culturally diverse like the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego.
"The challenge is convincing them to make the move to Chico, and that they will find our community (campus and city) welcoming," he said.
Michelle Maas can be reached at
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