Race Relations On College Campuses

Race relations are the ways in which individuals of different races living together in the same community behave toward one another. This topic directly relates to college campuses that possess students of different cultural and racial backgrounds. Diversity can be a huge benefit to students, as it not only exposes them to new ideas and ways of thinking, but also prepares them for the diverse world. After reviewing various academic articles on race relations in colleges, a study was conducted in which current White and Black/minority male and female students were interviewed about their opinions on Cleveland State’s race relations and diversity on campus.

Cleveland State University, located just outside the heart of the city of Cleveland. It is made up of 55 percent female students and 45 percent male students- this does not include students who identify as transgender or other non-binary genders. Of these students, approximately 27 percent are minorities, of which two-thirds are African American, and more than one-thousand are international students.

The university has been accused of racial discrimination in the past. In 2006, Ken “Mouse” McFadden, former Cleveland State University basketball star turned employee, sued the University for firing him. McFadden was hired by the university’s athletic department to be a sales, merchandising and promotions coordinator in 1998 and fired in June 2003. McFadden, an African American man, alleged that his White supervisor replaced him with a White employee and gave the employee assistants, which McFadden was refused to have. The court ruled in McFadden’s favor