Recruiters could leave Kelley if diversity doesn't improve

You can see a fire start to burn in junior Michael Sampson-Akpuru’s eyes as he sits up straighter in his chair, then leans forward.

It’s that fire that drives him in his mission to change IU culture. And now he is not alone.

While the Kelley School of Business’ MBA program is consistently rated among the nation’s best, the school is also among the least diverse – a reputation that is starting to resonate with recruiters.

Kelley’s black and Hispanic population totals less than 3 percent, which is about 180 students, according to Sampson-Akpuru. And recruiters like those at General
Mills have made their message clear to business school Dean Daniel Smith: Diversify now, or recruiting from IU will suffer, according to a December BusinessWeek article.

IU is not the exception, with many of the schools listed in “BusinessWeek’s Top 30 U.S. MBA Programs” lacking in diversity.

“You can understand the importance behind it,” said Sampson-Akpuru, an immigrant from Nigeria. “For us to get so much support, that means everybody is really working towards this.”

Bringing in minorities

Sampson-Akpuru is the president of the Kelley School Diversity Council, and his work toward helping minorities find a home in Kelley is his passion. He and junior Bryan Stuart, vice president of external affairs for the council, created the group a year ago to spark the same fire in Sampson-Akpuru’s eyes in the hearts of others in Kelley. The group now has 27 members.

“We really just wanted a grassroots movement,” Sampson-Akpuru said. “A grassroots culture chain at Kelley.”

Businesses and corporations that come to IU for recruitment and other purposes, Stuart said, are the main source of funding for the Kelley school, in some cases providing scholarships and funding for University projects. If those businesses refuse to come to IU because of diversity-related issues, it could spell trouble for students and Kelley as a whole, he said.

“Businesses sustain a lot of what Kelley is about,” said Stuart, who is white.
Smith, the school’s dean, said the process of increasing the number of minority students will soon come with help from businesses.

“Several of our corporate recruiters have offered to host student receptions at their companies for high school students considering the Kelley School,” he said in an e-mail. “These receptions would be attended by alumni and current students who would talk about IU and Kelley.”

The Administration’s part

Kelley administrators traditionally have programs in place for minorities, but there is no indication that initiatives following the recruiting complaints have been established.

Some of these programs include the Hudson & Holland program, which provides scholarships and career opportunities to minority students.
Another example is the Junior Executive Institute for minority high school students, offering them an opportunity to work at IU toward solving real-life business problems.

Smith also said the administration has set no number-oriented goal for the University over the next few years, as far as recruiting minority students goes.
“There is no set goal,” Smith said. “We simply are interested in improving the level of diversity and inclusiveness.”

The number of minorities isn’t the actual problem, Stuart said, but a symptom of a larger issue; it’s a Kelley culture not conducive to minority student success, he said. Sampson-Akpuru agreed.

“Part of the cycle is that a lot of students come in and they cannot survive in the business school,” Sampson-Akpuru said. “Be it the curriculum or the culture, there are a whole slew of reasons why a lot of underrepresented minority students are not well prepared for the business school and not able to thrive in that environment.”

The Diversity Council has come up with three initiatives to ignite change: the Diversity Challenge, Case Competition and a speaker series.

The most important and largest of these initiatives is the Diversity Challenge. Eight Kelley organizations have already signed up, and they will spend 3 1/2 months finding ways to make Kelley more diverse and welcoming.

“To change the culture, we need concrete action,” Stuart said. “Ideas are great, and we need ideas, but we’re going to push Kelley student groups a little bit further and ask them to actually implement ideas.”

The program begins Wednesday and also includes a workshop with members of Ernst & Young, a Big Four accounting firm, in order to help organizations develop a clear vision of what they are going to do.

With $6,000 in prize money available from businesses that have endorsed the project, the program offers more than just a community service opportunity.
“We’re asking them for a lot,” Stuart said, “but we’re also going to give them a lot. They’re taking a leap of faith, so we want to support them.”

Changing the culture

The fire bristled up once again from within Sampson-Akpuru as he spoke about the Diversity Challenge.

“For the first time, you have a concerted effort,” he said. “It fosters collaboration between student organizations, for one. Two, to have it focused on diversity – it’s never been done.”

But success in this case cannot really be measured by numbers, the leaders said.

“Honestly, percentage doesn’t really work out,” Sampson-Akpuru said. “If you have the numbers, but you don’t have the culture, you haven’t really made any changes.”
One of the challenges the Council faces is getting others to listen. Diversity has become a “buzz word,” Stuart said, one that has lost its meaning due to overuse.
“That’s what we’re trying to stay away from,” Sampson-Akpuru said, “because once
you say it, people literally start glazing over you.”

The Diversity Council hopes the heat from the flame that emanates from their leader will spark real change within Kelley. For now, though, Sampson-Akpuru cools off, leaning back in his chair again and casting his hands behind his head.
“We’re trying to fundamentally change the culture of students and how they view the world and other students,” he says. “That’s really our mission.”