How higher education is failing Black Americans in the Midwest Amy Morona Andrea Levy for Crain's Detroit Business Roughly 17,500 students enrolled at the University of Chicago this past fall. Eight hundred and twenty-eight of that group, just 4.7 percent of its total population, are Black, including Claire Shackleford. The 21-year-old detailed an experience where required reading lists lean heavily into works by white male authors. There are fewer professors of color, so students instead befriend Black cafeteria workers or custodians for support. It's common, she said, to be the only Black student in a classroom. "The burden of being a student of color at a predominantly white institution is that you're often expected to speak on behalf of your race," she said.