When I was at UCR from '61 through 65 there were virtually no students of color.  It was an enclave of white middle class kids you describe.  I'm not sure it's racism which has motivated increased tuition.  There are many factors: rising costs of providing education and an anti-intellectualism which seems all too prevalent. It's expensive for a state to subsidize post-high school education and many states, including, of course, Oregon, simply choose to severely limit such support.  The U of O, IMO, now is far more like a "private college/university"" than a state/public university.  I think that's the goal of the Trustees.. Unfortunately, it leaves a lot of very deserving young men and women "out of the mix" base on economic factors..Since students of color are "over-represented" in the lower economic classes, they are also over-represented among those students who simply can't afford the University.  

Have no fear, though, we're busily recruiting more students from Saudi Arabia GCrum