Los Angeles youth got a sweet taste of college Saturday when a
fraternity and sorority hosted “It’s All About the
Kids” Day, an event complete with a campus tour, an amateur
beatbox show and candy apples.
Nearly 90 members of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity and the Kappa
Alpha Theta sorority hosted over 50 students from the Lincoln
Heights Boys and Girls Club of Los Angeles.
“I thought it’d be good to motivate the kids to
higher education,” said Rakesh Raghuwanshi, Zeta Beta
Tau’s philanthropy chairman.
The fraternity and sorority wanted to help integrate the
students into the UCLA community, Raghuwanshi said. He added that
he hoped UCLA students at the event could act as resources for the
youth if they had questions about college.
“We’re exposing these kids to college, so they can
get a taste of it,” said Barbara Bowman, Project Learn
coordinator at the Boys and Girls club of Los Angeles.
Bowman said the students are interviewed when they first join
the club, and many don’t know what college is or don’t
have any ideas about which colleges and universities they want to
attend.
She said the Lincoln Heights community is 90 percent Latino,
with the majority being first generation, working-class immigrants.
She added that while a lot of the children’s parents value
education, parents from other countries are unfamiliar with how to
navigate the United States’ education system and are unaware
of many opportunities.
Jaime Gallardo, director of operations at the Boys and Girls
Club, said Saturday’s event was a great opportunity to expose
the youth to college.
“I think because of the socioeconomic status, a lot of
them don’t see beyond their own community,” Gallardo
said. “Somehow we have to plant a seed in the
kids.”
The students took a campus tour early in the morning and then
went back to the Zeta Beta Tau house. Disc jockeys from radio
station Power 106 played music while the children entertained
themselves with video games, played basketball, or made friendship
bracelets.
The students were also visited by two dancers from the Laker
Girls, and were greeted by Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs
Janina Montero later in the day.
In an interview after her speech to the students, Montero talked
about the importance of exposing youth to college. She said while
events like Saturday’s cannot replace the outreach
initiatives currently under fire from budget cuts, they are still
important because they complement those programs.
Raghuwanshi said he hopes to make this event an annual
affair.