Board of Overseers Joins with Community Members,
Elected Officials, Students to Strategize on Improving Campus Diversity
Roxana Popescu | November 23, 2009
UC San Diego’s Board of Overseers joined with community members, local elected officials and about two dozen high school students Saturday morning for a conference aimed at improving campus diversity.
Almost 100 people met to discuss campus diversity, financial aid and more at Saturday’s conference.
The university has worked hard to increase diversity over the past decades and made considerable strides in that regard, speakers said. With minority recruitment and local community outreach on overdrive, enrollment figures should continue to improve. Yet, particularly among Latino, African American and Native American students, representation continues to be woefully low, they said. So, they came together Saturday to articulate problems and devise solutions.
The day opened with a welcome from Ron Baza, chair of the Board of Overseers, and Jennifer Adams-Brooks, one of its members.
Saying she was the first UC graduate member of the Board of Overseers, Adams-Brooks, who has since played various roles on the board, invited audience participation before the discussion kicked off.
‘Hopefully, today you’re here to help us and turn the tide in a new direction,” Adams-Brooks said.
Vice Chancellor of Resource Management & Planning Gary Matthews spoke next, affirming the university’s commitment to diversity even during trying economic times. One of the problems facing this campus, he said, is that once admitted to UCSD, many minority applicants choose to go to other schools.
Chief Diversity Officer Sandra Daley said the campus is in the midst of an “emergency” with respect to the lack of diversity.
To counteract that, the university has started several innovative programs that aim to make the school more attractive to those populations. One is the early calling program launched several years ago by Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, in which community and campus leaders make calls to admitted students.
Other programs include community forums and “An Evening with UC San Diego,” where campus representatives head out into the South Bay, Southeast San Diego and other targeted communities and spread the word about UCSD’s educational opportunities, financial aid options and student life.
Matthews concluded his remarks on a pragmatic note: “We’re proud of the efforts today but clearly we know we can do more…That’s why we’re here today.”
The presentations continued with a detailed slideshow full of facts, figures and graphs about campus diversity and comments from Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Penny Rue and Chief Diversity Officer Sandra Daley.
Rue discussed the vicious cycle that underrepresented groups face on campus: because there are so few minorities on campus, new minority students don’t want to come. Because new minority students don’t come, there are very few minorities on campus.
Students from local high schools also attended, taking notes and contributing to the dialogue.
“Until you’re not the only one in your classroom, you’re going to feel a little out of step,” she said. That’s why it’s so important to attract and enroll a critical mass, she explained.
Daley, a pediatrician, compared the situation on campus to an emergency room.
“We have a problem,” she said. “This is an emergency. The most important thing that we can do is recognize that we are in the midst of war. If we do not hold together, in this moment, in this state, we have lost a tremendous opportunity to initiate change. Every second counts. No second can be wasted.”
After the morning session, participants – about 100 of them – separated into working groups about academic preparation and admissions, funding college and community outreach.
Despite the obstacles, all the decision-makers present Saturday reaffirmed their commitment to diversity.
“It’s time to blow a hole into the mythology that we do not want underrepresented students on this campus. We want underrepresented students on this campus,” Daley said.
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