As a graduate student at Biola since 2008, I have noticed a great trend at our incredible school. Back in 2010 and 2011, I wrote a series of articles exploring diversity at Biola. Despite the fact that Biola is surrounded by much ethnic and racial diversity in Los Angeles County, it remains a predominately white institution, from its student body to its faculty. So in that series I made observations and voiced concerns.

To my surprise and to the surprise of others on campus, a noticed change has taken place at Biola. This fall semester I could not help but notice what seemed to be an increase of African-American students. When I first arrived at Biola you could walk from one end of the campus to the other and not see one African face. Now it appears we can walk across campus and find it difficult to not see an African face.

A noticeable increase

I remember speaking with professor Uche Anizor, one of our few but distinguished African-American professors in the biblical and theological studies department at Biola. We were in his office talking about this apparent increase in African attendance, and he responded with an excited look on his face and said, “I thought it was just me.” I told him, “No, it’s not just you.” There is a noticeable change that many people I have spoken with also observed.

From a statistical percentage standpoint, according to Biola’s Institutional Research & Reporting webpage, it seems that only the graduate student headcount has increased from 2008 to 2011, from 67 to 77, while the undergraduate headcount actually decreased by 32 for the same period. While this does not account for what many have observed and perceived, these stats do highlight the fact that there is a need for stability of African-Americans at the undergraduate level.

As I spoke with Anizor in his office, I also mentioned the fact that many of the suggestions I had made in the third part of my article were implemented. For example, I had suggested target-marketing certain African-American websites such as Streaming Faith, and lo and behold what did I discover by accident one day while surfing the Net in Greek class? An ad placed on Streaming Faith’s website by Talbot School of Theology, when no such ad existed the previous year.

Making progress

Biola is making important progress in the area of diversity, specifically in African and African-American attendance and culturally relevant classes. I have heard of billboard ads being placed in ethnically diverse neighborhoods. Rwandan student and professor Faustin Ntamushobora is teaching an online course called Topics in Context and Crosscultural Theology: African Theology. Having classes that many African/African-American students may be interested in would encourage attendance to Biola as opposed to other schools. Additionally, Vice President of the Black Student Association, Shonette Reed reports that about 130 people signed up for the association this year — although that number, she maintained, represented a mixture of races since BSA does not exclude students of other ethnic backgrounds.

Importance of increasing retention

At the end of the day I can say that it’s nice to know that your concerns are being addressed and that people are really listening to them and taking action. So I thank the administration at Biola for listening. In that spirit I would like to offer another helpful suggestion. I have learned in my short experience that it is one thing to begin attending Biola, but it is another to finish and graduate.

As I stated in my article “Exploring Diversity” part three, it seems one of the main reasons why many minority groups have trouble attending and graduating is financial in nature. So it is clear Biola has taken significant steps to increase diversity. Perhaps now, we can work on improving the retention of those who have been accepted. While Biola does have some minority-based scholarships, it would help — especially on the graduate level — if more were created.

It is my hope and prayer that God will continue to use and bless Biola as a beacon of light to all nations, as we seek to live out God’s kingdom on earth until he comes, a kingdom filled with diverse people from all nations as revealed in Revelation 7:9.