People become suspicious when you ask questions.

Some questions seek honest information while others challenge decisions or paint visions of what could be. Questions are so powerful, in fact, that once you raise enough of them, your credibility and loyalty become lost in others’ questions about you.

I’m an unabashed questioner. And although I disguise it skillfully, my need to challenge the process comes from some innate idealism that the world should be a certain way and that justice will eventually triumph.

With that said, I’d like to raise two questions about admissions data posted on our University’s Web site. My questions do not demand explanations, but rather, call for deserved improvements. I love N.C. State and the people who embody it and my questions stem from this love.

So, here’s the story:

Next time you visit our University’s home page at www.ncsu.edu, be sure to click on “Fast Facts” under the student headline. This past weekend, I was surfing through the University’s online data postings for a project. When I landed on a spreadsheet of enrollment statistics, I immediately became unsettled.

Sure, some figures were predictable.

In case you are unaware, our total enrollment has increased from 29,637 in fall 2002 to 31,130 this past fall. Likewise, the percentage of in-state students has slowly declined just over half a percent during this time as N.C. State has begun to attract high school seniors from all over the U.S. and the world. These numbers are unsurprisingly dull.

Furthermore, these statistics half-prove the rhetoric we hear from administrators — our student body is always becoming more astute, more competitive and more diverse.

But other numbers say quite the opposite. Be prepared for shock and awe.

According to the Web site, when I came in as a freshman in fall 2003, the average SAT verbal-quantitative score was 1,195. Believe it or not, the average score has steadily declined over the past years to 1,177 for this year’s freshman class. Eighteen points may not seem drastic, but it raises questions.

Of course, it should be noted that the SAT has gone through revisions since the fall 2003 cohort began applying, but our University’s progress on achievement tests makes you wonder if our students are truly better off than the class that preceded them. Why are our scores noticeably lower?

Secondly, my eye caught Fast Fact #6: Black Percent of Enrollment. We all know that N.C. State has an unusually low number of black students for a public land-grant university. There are several explanations for the 9.8 percent black enrollment our University had in fall 2003 — many black students choose to go to historically black colleges and K-12 public schools are leaving behind too many black and Hispanic students.

Those excuses aren’t acceptable.

But much to my dismay, I discovered that, just like SAT scores, our University’s black percent of enrollment has steadily dropped over the years to an unconscionable 8.9 percent. What’s happening?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, North Carolina’s population is 21.8 percent black. For a University that claims to serve the entire state and its people, N.C. State is failing the black community. 8.9 percent doesn’t exactly match-up with 21.8 percent.

Even more stunning, as of last spring, the U.S. Department of Education was investigating our University for inappropriate uses of affirmative action in our admissions process. The Department had reason to believe that N.C. State was intentionally misusing affirmative action to increase the enrollment of black students.

Bewildering, huh?

Perhaps there’s something I don’t understand. Maybe I’m too naive or I can’t comprehend the complexities of our admissions process.

Yeah, right.

Declining black enrollment and SAT scores for our institution doesn’t necessarily point to doom, but it’s fair to say it points to failure. Some person or some organization is accepting mediocre standards and educational injustice.

Remember, I’m not asking for answers. Instead, I have some solutions.

We should make a goal to raise the average SAT score to 1,200 over the next two years. At the same time, our University must begin recruiting more black students and empowering our future teachers to encourage black and Hispanic students in the classroom.

We need higher standards and expanded diversity if we wish to become the University of the twenty-first century.

Office of Admissions: consider yourself questioned.

E-mail Forrest your thoughts on SAT scores and black enrollment at [email protected].