NAACP partners with UCLA student groups to increase diversity through a College Access Campaign- FIRST AME CHURCH (2270 South Harvard Blvd., Los Angeles)
- Saturday, November 10, 2007
- 1:30-4:30pm
Students from outreach programs at UCLA will conduct the workshops giving each student personalized attention. College students will educate high school students on the college process and ways to succeed once admitted.
In addition, parents can attend a workshop on "How to Finance Your Child's Education" presented by UCLA Financial Aid Office and Thompson Wealth Management (TWM).
The Los Angeles Chapter of the NAACP led by President Geraldine Washington was at the forefront of the campaign to address the low admittance rate of African American students at UCLA. College enrollment and graduation rates among African-American students continue to lag behind the population at large. To mitigate this trend the NAACP and the UCLA student groups are making a special plea calling for parents, high school counselors, teachers, churches and businesses to encourage student participation and support this worthwhile cause.
D'Artagnan Scorza UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Sciences, Ph.D. Student, UC Student Regent-Designate and NAACP Campaign Coordinator states "Education is the great equalizer and has been historically linked to our struggle for freedom. We must do everything we can to ensure access and equity for all of our students in our community"
We need and appreciate your financial support. Please help our students as they reach out and make a difference through education. No amount is too big or too small. Funds will be used for refreshments, instructional materials, printing and transportation. Write your tax-deductible check today and mail to the following address:
NAACP Inglewood/South Bay Branch
P.O. Box 8162
Inglewood, CA 90301
Phone: (310) 671-3174
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The following student groups will participate:
African Student Union's Academic Supports Program (ASP):
- The African Student Union's Academic Supports Program (ASP) is a student-initiated and student-run retention program that historically formed to address the attrition rates for students of African descent. Many African students expressed common concerns such as alienation from the campus, frustration from racism and discrimination, hostility from the campus environment, a lack of motivation to succeed and an uncertainty of goals. The ASP assists students with their academic development which is necessary to achieve graduation. Furthermore, they can gain leadership and other important skills which can be useful in their academic and professional careers.
- UCLA students from SIAC projects provide weekly, ongoing services, including one-on-one peer advising, tutoring, skills-building and workshops.
They also provide field trips, and parent dinners and workshops.
Their projects also join with various student organizations to host large-scale events promoting college, most of which take place annually.
- SHAPE was created by the African Student Union to counteract the repercussions of the removal of Affirmative Action programs in institutions of higher education, which resulted in the decline in admissions of underrepresented students. SHAPE was designed to target those youth at risk at the Middle and High School level by providing peer advising, tutoring, workshops, fieldtrips, and parent support. SHAPE goes out to the Inglewood, Crenshaw and Watts areas, as well as out to Audubon Middle School and Dorsey High School.
The Vice Provost Initiative for Pre-College Scholars, known as VIPS, is a partnership between UCLA and the Los Angeles and Pasadena school districts to help prepare historically underrepresented students in grades 9–12 to become competitively eligible for admission to UCLA and to encourage pursuit of graduate and professional education.
- VIPS is focused on underserved students, including students from low-income and first-generation immigrant families, which includes underrepresented minorities.
VIPS services include college preparatory workshops, a Buddy Day (high school students shadow UCLA students for a day), college advising, and career and major seminars.
The UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships (CCCP) develops and strengthens academic partnerships between UCLA and California community colleges, particularly those with large underrepresented student populations. The center works to help the community colleges develop a "transfer culture."
- The center works closely with community college administrators, faculty and staff to strengthen and diversify curriculum, create strong academic support programs, improve students' academic competitiveness for admission to the university and increase the diversity of UCLA's transfer-admit pool.
- Among the center's programs is the East Los Angeles College Summer Immersion Program, a collaboration between the Youth Opportunity Movement, East Los Angeles College and UCLA. This intense 16-day academic program requires participants to complete successfully a three-unit UC/CSU-transferable course in a two-week period.
The Afro-Academic, Cultural Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) is a major youth initiative of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). founded in 1978, by the renowned author and journalist, Vernon Jarrett, ACT-SO provides a forum through which minority youth can demonstrate the same prowess, expertise and recognition often only reserved for entertainers and athletes. Rooted in the firm conviction that minorities can succeed and compete at the same or superior levels as their counterparts in classrooms, boardrooms and locker rooms across this nation and abroad.
- The ACT-SO objective is to prepare, promote and recognize youth who exemplify scholastic and cultural excellence. ACT-SO conducts annual academic competitions for students in grades 9-12 NAACP branches throughout the country. Participating branches hold local competitions in 24 categories. The top winners from other cities at the national ACT-SO finals during the NAACP national convention.
- To mobilize the adult community for the promotion of classroom and after-school excellence.
- To recognize academic achievement among youth on par with the recognition awarded athletics.
- To provide and assist students with the necessary skills and tools to establish goals and acquire the confidence and training to make a successful contribution to society.
- Michael Gallin, UC Regent Student Field Representative at (310) 206-4416 or by fax at (310) 206-6067
- Marilynn Huff at (310) 672-7939 or email: mzhuff@gmail.com
