Program aids African American students

  COURTNEY STEWART/Daily Bruin Jermaine Taj
Ausmore (left) and others listen to Professor Mary
Helen Washington of the University of Maryland speak in
Hershey Hall.

By Rachel Makabi
Daily Bruin Contributor

When Richard Yarborough attended Michigan State University as an
undergraduate student in the early 1970s, he never encountered any
African American professors.

“Given that I had never seen a black college professor
first hand and yet I was considering entering that profession, it
was important not only to see one in action, but to work with him,
and see someone who was confronting the challenges of being an
African American in this profession,” said Yarborough, an
associate professor of English and director of the Center for
African American Studies.

He explained that because African American role models in
academia are still rare, the CAAS is hosting its first annual
Humanities and Humanistic Studies Institute to provide support for
16 African American students from across the nation with prospects
of pursuing a graduate and doctoral degree.

“What we know is that the number of African Americans who
earn Ph.D.s each year is not large,” Yarborough said.
“Without encouraging students to go on to graduate school and
to earn Ph.D.s, that pool of prospective faculty members will
remain small.”

The program targets students from historically black colleges
and universities but is not restricted to African Americans, said
Nandini Gunewardena, CAAS associate director of research.

The four-week program which runs until July 20, consists of
mentorship programs, field trips and seminars on cultural
expression , the Rodney King case and Caribbean literature.

“The main goal is to help further understanding of the
African American experience through the humanities lens,”
Gunewardena said. “Every department uses a different method
to understand it.”

Students go on field trips to places with historical
significance, like the California African American Museum, Watts
Towers Art Center and the Griffith Park and Observatory.

Additionally, the program pairs each student up with a different
faculty member. Mentorship, Yarborough said, is a key factor for
entering a career in the academia.

Tsekani Browne, a graduate student in history, said he chose to
attend UCLA because faculty members were accessible to him.

“That’s the reason I’m still here at UCLA,
because of the mentorship,” he said.

According to Browne, the greatest limitation of the program is
cramming the workshops, faculty meetings and field trips into a
four-week period. As the program expands, he hopes it will span six
weeks and include up to 50 students.

The program began this summer, after two years of planning, with
a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and support from the
Graduate Division at UCLA.

Melvette Melvin, a fourth-year English education student at
Bennet College, said sessions with the faculty are helpful.

“(The experience) helped me to create a firm foundation on
which to create my research,” she said. “We are brought
together by so many black scholars to help us mature in our
thinking.”

With reports from Michaele Turnage, Daily Bruin Senior
Staff.