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Study Finds Link Between ‘Critical Mass’
and Respectful Racial Climate
Universities that maintain higher
levels of “critical mass” have African-
American and Latino students who are
more likely to feel respected on campus.
This is according to a study by William
Kidder, assistant provost at UCR. The
study, “Misshaping the River: Proposition
209 and Lessons for the Fisher
Case,” analyzed surveys from nearly
10,000 African-American and Latino
undergraduates.
Published in the Journal of College
and University Law, a peer-reviewed
journal at the University of Notre Dame
Law School, the study found that on
campuses with more African-Americans
in the student body, including UT Austin
and UCR, between 72 percent and
87 percent of African-Americans felt
students of their race were respected on
campus.
By contrast, on campuses with fewer
African-Americans in the student body,
including UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC
San Diego, between 32 percent and
71 percent of African-Americans felt
respected on campus. Latino undergraduates
were also more likely to feel
respected on campuses where there were
higher levels of diversity.
The racial interactions on campus
can be influential in academic success,
according to Sylvia Hurtado, a professor
at UCLA and director of the Higher
Education Research Institute. “Lower
racial diversity not only results in
increased reports of campus incidents
but members of underrepresented groups
and majority students show lower
scores on college outcomes as a result of
negative cross-race encounters,” she said.
Former Riverside
Mayor Heads UCR
Research Center
Ronald O. Loveridge, the former
Riverside mayor who has played an active
leadership role in local, regional and state
government for more
than 30 years, was named
director of the Center for
Sustainable Suburban Development
at UCR in January.
“The center will support,
and connect, the best of
academic research with
important policy choices
for a sustainable future for
this region and Southern
California,” Loveridge said.
Loveridge has been an
associate professor of political science
at UCR since 1965. With his retirement
as mayor of Riverside, he will focus his
attention at UCR on research related to the
growth of suburbs, public policy, urban
planning, transportation, air quality and the
intersection of cities and natural lands.
UCR Spring 2013 | 5