Although New Orleans has religious universities, public and private universities, and historically black colleges and universities which - taken together - have very diverse student bodies, the city lacks diversity in its higher education faculty.
There are nine colleges and universities in the New Orleans area and the faculty members at these institutions area around 60 percent white, while African American professors make up around five percent of the faculty. Loyola University, for example, has a student body that is 52 percent white and 15 percent African American. However, the faculty is 83 percent white and five percent African American.
WWNO Intern and Loyola University student Dani Carbonari explores this topic with Andre Perry, a local columnist and activist on education, and Shawn Kelly, President of The Black Student Union at Loyola University.