Tuesday, March 10, 1998
RAIN! helps put students back on track
RETENTION: American Indian program includes mentoring, workshops
and counseling
By Rebecca Ray
Daily Bruin Contributor
Eric DeLeon was subject to dismissal. He took time off from
UCLA, landed a well-paying job, and might have never gone back to
school.
But the Retention of American Indian Students Now! (RAIN!), a
Student Retention Center project geared towards enhancing American
Indian students’ success, helped put him back on the right
track.
"If it wasn’t for RAIN!, I probably wouldn’t be here now," said
DeLeon, a second-year English student and member of the Lakota
tribe.
"(RAIN!) motivated me into getting back into academics. It
opened my eyes to what school meant to me. It made me realize how
important my education is," DeLeon said.
The American Indian Student Association (AISA), the American
Indian student advocacy group, created RAIN! in 1990 to provide
academic counseling, keep people involved in their community and
help with any of life’s challenges.
American Indians compose the smallest racial group on campus —
only 250 currently attend UCLA. RAIN! currently provides services
to about half of UCLA’s American Indian students.
RAIN! is only one of the projects run by the Student Retention
Center (SRC), which helps students who are at risk of dropping out
of school.
The SRC also runs four retention programs: Mecha-Calmecac,
created by MEChA, SPEAR, created by Samahang Pilipino, and ASP,
created by African Student Union (ASU).
RAIN! has been able to stay strong despite the passing of
Proposition 209. AISA and RAIN! members negotiated with the CRC
(Campus Retention Committee) for eight months to ensure that the
CRC could provide them retention funds while complying with the
law.
"RAIN! is an excellent retention program that provides
much-needed services and resources to Native American and
non-Native American students on campus," said Natalie Stites, the
president of AISA and vice chair of the CRC.
Stites led negotiations and remains responsible for hiring and
reviewing the program through the RAIN! Review Committee.
RAIN! provides one mentorship program each quarter.
"RAIN! hopes that mentors and mentees will find dialogue to talk
about their experiences as American Indians, to talk about the art
and how it affects their lives," said Molly Springer, the director
of RAIN!.
"We want them to communicate better and learn about each others’
own personal histories," she said.
RAIN! also provides workshops every quarter. Each workshop has
an academic, social, or cultural focus.
Last Tuesday, Jennifer Bazilus, RAIN!’s workshop coordinator and
Jacob Goff, the secretary of AISA, ran a workshop on how to make
God’s Eyes. God’s Eyes are colorful talismans originally made by
the Pueblo and Mexican Indians, and are said to protect their
owners from harm.
"RAIN! is doing very well this year in terms of reaching out to
the student community and getting students to take advantage of the
wide array of services provided by the Student Retention Center,"
said Max Espinoza, CRC chair.
"RAIN!, along with the other student retention programs, are
working very hard to provide a useful service to students trying to
find their way through the university," Espinoza said.
RAIN! serves the American Indian community by helping them get
internships and utilize campus resources such as the Career and
Expo Centers, and provides one-on-one academic counseling.
Stites stresses that all Student Retention Center services –
counseling, workshops, and mentorship programs – are open to all
UCLA students. She said she hoped that other retention programs
will develop the same way.
"Hopefully, RAIN! will expand its services not only to provide
outreach but counseling for all American Indian students. AISA
hopes to develop graduation, curriculum, and recruitment in an
institutional manner much like RAIN! and our thirteenth annual pow
wow, (which is currently) the largest student-initiated cultural
event in the UC system," she said.
"The American Indian involvement is really excellent here,"
DeLeon said. "I think we have a lot of political support on campus.
We have a very strong voice here for being such a small group."