“…When student strikers began protesting at San Francisco State University in the late 1960s, they had a long list of demands. But their grievances could be summed up by one of their two-word mottos: “Relevant education!” They wanted a university that was more diverse, less Eurocentric and ready to prove that it valued people of color and their perspectives.
Fast forward to today, San Francisco State is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its College of Ethnic Studies (CoES), which was founded to provide the relevant education strikers demanded. To mark the occasion, the University will host the College of Ethnic Studies 50th Anniversary Commemoration Week, a series of events on campus from Oct. 7 through 12 honoring CoES and its legacy as the first college of its kind in the U.S.
Co-hosted by CoES, the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost, the events that week will include panel discussions with veterans from the strike, presentations from community leaders, exhibits, film screenings, performances and opportunities for intergenerational dialogue with the founders of the college. Most events are free, with tickets to a few evening festivities available for purchase…”
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“…Everything changed when a developmental psychology doctoral student took me under her wing. I will never forget the day at UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, where I described my interests in being a therapist but also understanding the role of Latinx culture in youth mental health treatment. She remarked that a clinical psychology Ph.D. seemed like a good match and sensing my confusion, she differentiated it from medical school. In a 10-minute conversation, she helped me realize that medicine was not my passion. She pointed me to a career path that both fit my interests and fulfilled my mother’s hope for me to be a doctor – just not a medical one. This is my first memory of receiving meaningful, personalized mentorship…”
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“…A high school senior — whom I will call Juanita Gomez — recently graduated from Mission High, in San Francisco, with a 3.5 GPA and 550s on her verbal and math SATs. She’s the first in her family to go to college and she’s eligible for a federal Pell Grant, awarded to students from low-income families.
Juanita is choosing among three schools — San Francisco City College, San Francisco State and UC Riverside. Having done her homework, she knows what courses she can take and what each will cost. However, like almost all college applicants, she doesn’t realize that her choice may determine whether she earns a B.A.
At UC Riverside, where the typical undergraduate has an academic record like Juanita’s, 73% of the students graduate in six years, but if she picks San Francisco State, only about half…”
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“This spring — as federal prosecutors announced charges against wealthy Californians, who paid bribes to get their kids into elite universities — a poor kid from a poor California town faced her own dilemma: How could she help others go to college?
Fabiola Moreno Ruelas, an 18-year-old from the Salinas Valley town of Gonzales, was perhaps California’s most unlikely philanthropist. She had suffered much of the worst of California, from the deportation of her father, to an auto accident, to her family’s eviction from their home.Fabiola received $29,000 on her 18th birthday, she knew she didn’t want to spend it on herself.
This is a simple story about a small, new scholarship program. It’s also a timely fable about the real meaning of poverty and community, and the abundance of spirit that can spin bad luck into good. It might even be considered an updating of another Salinas Valley child, John Steinbeck, who advised: “If you’re in trouble or hurt or need—go to poor people. They’re the only ones that’ll help—the only ones.”..”
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“…Among those dreams is to vanquish the steep decline in underrepresented groups — black, Latino and Native American students — since 1996, when voters approved Proposition 209 and stopped statefunded schools from considering ethnicity in admissions.
Before then, black students, for example, made up 7% of freshmen admitted to UC Berkeley from California. By 1998, just 3% of instate admissions went to black students. This year, the figure stood at 4%, or 391 of the 9,634 California high school seniors admitted.
Overall, 26% of California students admitted to the freshman class this year were underrepresented groups: 2,091 Latino, 391 black, and 66 Native American students, about the same as last year.
UC Berkeley is not the most selective campus in the system (UCLA is). Yet no UC campus has a lower ratio of underrepresented groups.
“I know that some members of our community feel we talk a good game about improving diversity, but haven’t backed up our words with appropriate actions,” Christ said in December as she unveiled her Undergraduate Student Diversity Project. She cited Prop. 209, but said: “We cannot and will not use that as an excuse.”
One of the project’s goals is to become a “HispanicServing Institution” within the next decade, a designation that opens the door to federal grants. But overall, the plan calls for better ways to recruit and enroll far more people of color…”
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