Professors who are part of the four ethnic study centers on
campus play a role in drawing undergraduate minority students to
UCLA, and in retaining them.
The admission of undergraduate minority students statistically
went up slightly for the 2005-2006 school year, leading to a
possibility of a bigger representation of minority students on
campus next year.
Many professors believe an important attraction for minority
students to UCLA is the connection they have to minority
professors.
“It makes UCLA a place that high school students and
transfer students can relate to, that UCLA includes someone that
looks like them and relates to their experiences,” said
Professor Carlos Haro, the assistant director of the UCLA Chicano
Studies Research Center.
“Faculty can be a critical asset for recruiting students
because, at the undergraduate level, you’ll have students who
identify with faculty in very concrete and tangible ways,” he
said.
Three of the ethnic study centers, the UCLA American Indian
Studies Center, the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American
Studies at UCLA and the Chicano Studies Research Center are not
actual departments, but do promote undergraduate, graduate and
faculty research in their specific areas.
The Asian American Studies Center has recently become a
department on campus, along with the César E. Chávez
Center in Interdisciplinary Chicana/o Studies.
Dennis Arguelles, the assistant director of the Asian American
Studies Center, believes ethnic departments at UCLA give a
necessary reflection of the community.
“A lot of ethnic and minority faculty serve as role models
from communities who are underrepresented and show that it is
possible to succeed in the university,” Arguelles said.
Though minority professors and ethnic departments may attract
students to UCLA, many professors agree that academic interest is
most important.
“If the students feel that the curriculum is more relevant
to their own daily life and what they want to do in the future, it
helps keep them interested and retain them, but these courses and
research exist on further reasons,” Arguelles said.
“A diversified curriculum helps everyone and gives
everyone a better picture of ethnic diversity and what to expect
when going out in the workforce,” he said.
Though admission for minority students saw a slight overall
increase, the admission of black students statistically decreased
for the 2005-2006 year.
“It’s unfortunate that we still continue to have a
student population that doesn’t reflect the state’s
diversity,” said Darnell Hunt, a professor and director of
the Bunche Center for African American Studies.
The center is currently working with different groups on campus
to promote the increase in black students at UCLA.
“We work with our faculty to meet with prospective
students,” Hunt said, “and impress upon them what UCLA
has to offer and what the Bunche center does to contribute to a
vibrant intellectual community on campus.”
Hunt recalls many students who participated in research at the
Center for African American Studies and decided to pursue a career
in academia.
“We are always thinking about the next generation of
scholars,” he said.
Other organizations on campus provide minority students with
help throughout their undergraduate career at UCLA, and provide
resources to learn about furthering their education.
The Academic Advancement Program has more than 6,000 students,
and works to “ensure the academic success, retention and
graduation of all AAP students,” according to the AAP mission
statement.
AAP is limited to students whose personal backgrounds or
academics may limit their educational experience and ability to
graduate.
The Student Retention Center is a student-run organization,
which was formed as a response to “disproportionately low
retention rates of students from communities with a history of low
graduation rates,” according to the retention center Web
site.
The retention center is made up of different minority groups
which focus on aiding specific students.
Some professors still feel that it will take more than an
increase in admissions to ensure that UCLA is a diversely
represented campus.
“There still needs to be a lot of work done to bring in
minority students. We’re encouraged by these numbers but
there’s still more work to do,” Arguelles said.