In 2014, Dartmouth announced a goal of increasing minority tenure-track faculty from 16 per cent to 25 per cent by 2020

Dartmouth acknowledged that 16 per cent of its faculty were minorities

of students angry about the makeup of its faculty

Dartmouth is latest university to find itself in the

Dartmouth College has come under fire for the school's lack of diversity of the faculty.

The school is the latest to find itself in the cross-hairs of students angry about the makeup of its faculty and, in some cases, its student body.

Students and other faculty members started protesting in May when Aimee Bahng, an assistant professor of English who is Asian-American, was denied tenure.

Student, Melissa Padilla, 26, who was angry when she found out Bahng's tenure was denied, went to the public with concerns of the lack of diversity.

Dartmouth University has come under fire for the school's lack of diversity of the faculty. The university is the latest to find itself in the cross-hairs of students angry about the makeup of its faculty. A student is pictured on Sunday during the school's graduation

Students and other faculty members started protesting in May when Aimee Bahng (pictured), an assistant professor of English who is Asian-American, was denied tenure

Student protesters (pictured) took to social media using hashtags #fight4facultyofcolor and #dontdodartmouth on Bahng's behalf. They also held a campus rally in May that included a casket representing the 'death of our education' and carried roses for each of the minority faculty they say have left the college since 2002

She joined dozens of students and faculty at the Ivy League school who launched a campaign demanding that Bahng's case be reconsidered.

They pressed the administration for answers over the tenure process and launched a petition in support of Bahng that has gathered more than 3,600 signatures.

Protesters took to social media using the hashtags #fight4facultyofcolor and #dontdodartmouth on Bahng's behalf.

They also held a campus rally in May that included a casket representing the 'death of our education' and carried roses for each of the minority faculty they say have left the college since 2002.

'Once we sort of got past the anger, we were kind of shocked,' said Padilla, who is Mexican and lives in the United States with her family on a green card.

'We didn't understand why the college would not take this opportunity to keep a professor of color on campus that is not only providing the academic prestige they want but is also mentoring students of color.'

In 2013, 21 per cent of full-time faculty was nonwhite, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Most Ivy League schools fared even worse, with Dartmouth acknowledging only 16 per cent of its faculty were minorities — compared with 35 per cent of its student body.

In November 2014, Dartmouth announced a goal of increasing minority tenure-track faculty from 16 per cent to 25 per cent by 2020, which requires an extra $100 million over the next 10 years.

It also is doubling the amount in its diversity recruitment fund to $2 million a year.

Students are targeting faculty diversity because they have seen so little progress on the issue — despite repeated promises to recruit and retain faculty of color.

Dartmouth acknowledged only 16 per cent of its faculty were minorities — compared with 35 per cent of its student body. In November 2014, Dartmouth announced a goal of increasing minority tenure-track faculty from 16 per cent to 25 per cent by 2020, which requires an extra $100 million over the next 10 years

A former professor said the college would promote diversity by bringing in several talented scholars but they often left after not getting tenure or being promoted. Dartmouth College President, Philip Hanlon (center) with honorary degree recipients on Sunday

Students are targeting faculty diversity because they have seen so little progress on the issue — despite repeated promises to recruit and retain faculty of color

Craig Wilder, who is African-American, spent six years at Dartmouth teaching history before leaving in 2008 for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He recalled how the college would promote diversity and brought in several talented scholars of color during his tenure. But he said the scholars often left after not getting tenure or being promoted.

'I was not alone in questioning the morality of continuing to recruit promising scholars to an institution that had a questionable commitment to their success,' said Wilder, who had tenure at Dartmouth. 'That doubt fully informed my decision to leave.'

Bahng arrived at Dartmouth in 2009. Along with her teaching and writing on Asian-American literature, feminist science and technology studies, and queer theory, the 40-year-old mentored undergraduate and graduate minority students and helped create and teach a popular course dedicated to the Black Lives Matter movement.

She said she thinks Dartmouth got it wrong.