Claiming the university is unfriendly to African American students, several leaders of the black community on campus met with university officials on Friday to address the low graduation rates of black students at Sacramento State.

The group’s requests, which were outlined in a follow-up letter sent to President Alexander Gonzalez, includes the following:

? more black faculty, staff and administrators.

? a black representative on the president’s executive committee.

? $20,000 in annual support for a mentoring program.

? administrative dedication of the staff’s time to work on a retention program.

The group, which was mostly organized by Associated Students Inc. members Josh Wood, Luke Wood and James Shelby II, attributes the low graduation rate of black Sac State students to what they call an unwelcoming atmosphere on campus, in part because of the lack of black faculty, staff and administration.

According to Sac State’s office of institutional research Web site, which the group used both in the presentation on Friday and in the follow-up letter, 75.6 percent of the faculty are white and 4.3 percent are black.

“There’s no support system on campus, no community to support students,” said Luke Wood, vice president of academic affairs for ASI.

Ric Brown, currently holding two titles as the provost and the vice president for Academic Affairs, already had plans to combat the issue.

If the university advertises to fill a position, Brown said professors from underrepresented groups, such as blacks and Latinos, must be included in that pool of applicants.

He said this process has been difficult in the past, resulting in the disparity between black and white faculty members.

“The numbers of doctoral candidates who are representatives of especially black and Hispanic are limited in numbers,” Brown said. “So what we have is an incredible competition of underrepresented candidates. They’re looking at many offers, not just ours, because all schools are looking to make their campuses more diverse.”

Brown said the university plans to start their searches much earlier than usual —starting before winter break —so that Sac State is the first offer the candidate receives.

Another plan of Brown’s is to search for a new assistant vice president of academic affairs. The position’s focus will broaden to include recruitment of faculty and staff, as opposed to just students.

The group believes the lack of black faculty, staff and administration correlates with the low graduation rates of black students, and the members hope the situation will be remedied with their recruitment.

“The key is to have someone in authority who you can model yourself after,” said James Shelby II, vice president of finance for ASI.

According to the office of institutional research, 17 percent of African Americans who enter as a first-time freshman will graduate in a five-year time span, compared with 37 percent of whites who will graduate in that same period.

Included in the presentation at the meeting and the letter to the president is the group’s suggestions to solve the problem, such as a retention program and mentoring group primarily targeted at, but not limited to, black students.

Brown said he has plans for a meeting with the group about the development of the retention program and the mentoring group.

“If the faculty, staff and students look like the community, you’re achieving one major goal,” Brown said.

Gonzalez plans to respond to the letter by May 11, and a follow-up meeting will then be scheduled.

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Melissa Dahl can be reached at [email protected]