University enrollment numbers show the highest-quality and most diverse student body in the University’s history, according to a University Media Relations news release.
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Stuart Bell said the University strives to maintain diversity to build a high-quality work environment for faculty and students.
Bell said the diversity numbers released are a good sign as long they continue to improve.
“Students need diversity because we are preparing them for what they will see in the work force,” Bell said. “They will see a diversity in local and international environments.”
Business administration senior Brittany Guillory is vice president of the Minority Women’s Movement. From her freshman year to her senior year, she has seen an increase in diversity but thinks the University could do more.
“That’s the beautiful thing about LSU — we are a cultured University with students from different ethnicities and backgrounds,” Guillory said.
Compared to other Southeastern Conference schools, the University leads in diversity percentage increases. According to the University of Alabama Office of the Registrar’s website, Hispanic students represent about 3.4 percent of the total student body at Alabama, compared to the University’s about 5.3 percent Hispanic population.
Spanish senior Clarissa Melendez said she hopes the University can maintain the increase in diverse enrollment. The University should do more to highlight diversity in campus life, she said.
“If it hadn’t been for the Office of Multicultural Affairs, I wouldn’t have been involved in the Hispanic Student Cultural Society,” Melendez said. “Though the diversity numbers are great, the University can begin to help these offices and organizations to emphasize diversity on campus.”
Bell said the University will reach out to communities outside of Louisiana and show them what the University’s diverse campus has to offer.
“With the addition of the Vice Provost for Diversity Dr. [Dereck] Rovaris [Sr.], he has brought a greater focus not just on student diversity but staff diversity as well,” Bell said. “It is the efforts of the recruiting staff and deans that we have diversity here on campus and the efforts are ongoing.”
The University’s African-American student enrollment reached 11.2 percent during the fall 2014 semester.
Bell attributed this increase largely to Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives Isiah Warner. Bell said that Warner has made a huge impact and his efforts are still ongoing.
Last month, Warner received the Dr. Kofi Lomotey Trailblazer Award for his work at the Louisiana Summit for African-American Male Educational Success.
“The University has experienced a huge change, and I think the direction LSU is headed is a positive one,” Melendez said.
Asian student enrollment was the lowest the University reported: 3.5 percent of the total student body. Compared to Auburn University, the University still leads by about 1.2 percent, with Auburn’s Asian enrollment percentage at about 2.3 percent.
Bell said the media also play a role in getting the word out about the University’s diversity to prospective students. With overall enrollment numbers constantly increasing, Bell said more diverse students are choosing to come to the University.
“When you make something a priority as LSU has done with diversity, the needle starts to move, and we see tremendous results,” Bell said.

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Zoe Geauthreaux

Students sit on a shaded bench in the Quad while waiting for their next class.