Vision '96 preparations underway

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by Angelique Siy

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Eighty-three underrepresented minority prospectives (of black, Hispanic or Native-American origin) arrived yesterday to participate in this weekend's Vision '96.

Brown College junior Quinton Nixon, chair of the Minority Interests Committee of the Student Admissions Council, is coordinating the event.

"The goal of Vision is to increase the number of underrepresented minorities who choose to attend Rice. Some of them have applied for interim [decision] and some did regular decision ... whatever the case may be, they're all high-ability students and very promising candidates for admission to Rice," Nixon said.

Vision was created to be separate from Owl Day because the Minority Interests Committee believed that scheduling activities targeted primarily at minority students during Owl Day would only take them away from other experiences with the rest of the prospective group, a consequence counterproductive to the committee's goals.

"We like to do things on a case-by-case basis," Nixon said. "The program tries to convince the students to [matriculate] by showing them everything that Rice has to offer ... but whereas Rice has something for everyone, it may not be the right place for everyone ... we try to help them see what's right for them."

The coordinators have scheduled events from Thursday evening to early Saturday afternoon. Their activities include a dinner at Cohen House, discussion groups, segments of the Unity Through Diversity Week celebrations, an ice cream social and a party at the Pub.

Tamara Siler, assistant director of admission and director of minority recruitment, said, "We didn't need a program like Vision because our numbers [of matriculating minorities] were so dismal, but because Rice benefits from the diversity [the students] bring to campus and because we were behind our competitors who already had well-established programs ... these same students are among the most heavily recruited nationally."

Nixon also believes Vision will be valuable.

"We needed [Vision] because it was the time for it, if Rice was going to be competitive," he said. "We had to have a program like Vision and so far, we've been proven right."

In fact, from that first year, 51 percent of the 71 students who attended Vision completed the cycle by actually matriculating.

Wiess College freshman Angelica Rodriguez participated as a prospective student in Vision '95 and will be part of the event again as a host.

"I really enjoyed Vision last year. It was my first time to be at Rice, and people were very friendly, helpful and informative. It showed me Rice, and compared to all the other schools, I was very turned on to Rice," Rodriguez said.

"What made me decide to come was the variety, the extracurriculars, the academics. There was a great difference in multicultural awareness here compared to MIT, A&M and UT," Rodriguez said.

Student hosts are essential parts of the program since they can interact directly with each student, answer their unique questions and show them what it means to be a Rice student.

According to one of Vision '96's coordinators, Lovett College junior Jermaine Gibbs, "Hosts are usually members of the Minority Interests Committee. They fill up the SAC form for volunteering as hosts, and we assign them one or two students for the weekend."

Marco Leal, a Wiess senior, hosted two students last year and may have two or three again this year.

"I think the visiting students enjoyed it, because it was on a weekend where they could do many things and really see Rice ... the students here enjoyed it because of the interaction," he said.

Both Leal and Rodriguez are hosting because they feel it is their way of contributing to diversity on campus.

"It's my way of doing what I want to do," Leal said. "I was recruited ... I came to Rice through a special minority program. Before that, I didn't know anything about [Rice], and that's when I decided to help out if I did come."

Siler hopes for a future where Vision has become ingrained into student life as a tradition and when Rice can finance more of the students' travel expenses. However, she pointed out that many of the departments have been generous with their help and students with their time.

This item appeared in the News section of the February 23, 1996 issue.

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