A new student commission is currently working with UCLA administrators to incorporate the histories of people of color on campus in the university’s official campus tours.
The UCLA People of Color Tour started in 1985 and aims to educate students about the historical significance of certain sites on campus. During the student-run tour, individuals stop at several locations at UCLA to talk about the histories of people of color and reflect on how past events affect current campus climate.
Students from several cultural student groups and the Undergraduate Students Association Council General Representative 3 office recently met with UCLA administrators to talk about ways to integrate parts of the People of Color Tour into the university’s standard tours, which do not cover the same information. Students and administrators talked about changing the campus tours script and other details of the current program.
“We’re revising the script and fact-checking everything. We’re not changing the content, just adjusting it,” said Daisy Paniagua, a second-year political science student who worked on the project in former General Representative Lizzy Naameh’s office.
Some of the students involved in the process are in cultural organizations such as Samahang Pilipino, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, or MEChA de UCLA, and the Afrikan Student Union.
“The students are working with (student) enrollment management and they are looking forward to collaborating with them,” said Ricardo Vazquez, UCLA spokesman.
Some cultural organizations and student government officials have been pushing for more administrative support for the People of Color Tour recently.
“The People of Color Tour is beautiful because it shows the history of activism on campus,” said USAC External Vice President Conrad Contreras, who has given the People of Color Tour since his first year at UCLA. “It inspires people to know they have a voice and can change things even beyond this campus.”
Paniagua, a member of the student commission, said she thinks administrators have been helpful and eager to work with students on changing the tour.
Naameh said members of the student commission have already met with Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Youlonda Copeland-Morgan and Director of Undergraduate Admissions Gary Clark and plan to continue meeting with them on a monthly basis until they finalize the script for the tour.