Group discusses role of blacks on campus
By Bridget Shackelford
Oct. 11, 2006 9:00 p.m.
A group of more than 100 people gathered Wednesday night to
discuss the critical role black people have played at UCLA over the
years, the obstacles they have undergone in the past and the
challenges they face today.
Several distinguished faculty members and UCLA alumni, as well
as politically active students were part of the Ralph J. Bunche
Center for African American Studies’ academic convocation.
The focus of the event was to discuss the current state of the
black community on campus and their history at UCLA.
“This is an event for networking and outreach for
students, faculty and staff,” said Brenda Stevenson,
professor and chair of the Interdepartmental Program in
Afro-American Studies, adding that the event was also meant to give
them a welcome and a hello.
Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, vice chancellor for graduate studies,
dean of the UCLA Graduate Division and professor of anthropology
and psychiatry at UCLA, said the event was a good place for members
of the black community to interact with their peers.
“In my opinion, it also serves as an opportunity to
foreground the continued struggle for equity for African Americans
in this university and the broader society,” Mitchell-Kernan
said.
The topics discussed included the recent criticism of UCLA for
the low number of minority students who were accepted for fall
2006. Out of the 4,700 freshmen admitted to UCLA for fall 2006,
only 95 black students submitted statements of intent to
register.
“I cannot tell you how painful this has been,” said
Janina Montero, vice chancellor for student affairs.
“We’ve now hit what is clearly a crisis point; it
cannot continue.”
UCLA recently announced that it will be weighing future
applicants on a holistic scale, which will focus more on the
applicants’ personal accomplishments and life hardships,
similar to the admissions policy at UC Berkeley.
Mandla Kayise, a UCLA alumnus and master of ceremonies of the
event, echoed Montero’s sentiment.
Kayise reminded the crowd that it was students who created the
center, and that their potential is huge.
“None of the students I went to school with were part of
that,” he said jokingly. “Take credit for (the activist
reputation), hold everyone accountable. It’s what we
do.”
African Student Union Officer D’Artagnan Scorza demanded
that his fellow students become politically active.
“We must stand in solidarity to prevent our exclusion from
this university,” he said.
One of the main points stressed was that current UCLA students
have the power to enact positive change.
A documentary detailing the early years of the Bunche Center
informed the audience of some of the major events that sparked
black activism, including the January 1969 shooting of two Black
Panthers in Campbell Hall at UCLA.
Paul Campbell, a clinical instructor in the UCLA School of
Dentistry and a UCLA alumnus, told the audience about his
experience at UCLA, both during his undergraduate and graduate
years.
“I really fell in love with this place, that was 31 years
ago. I still feel the same way at this time,” Campbell
said.
He encouraged UCLA students to hang in there even when the
pressures facing college students can seem overwhelming at
times.
“I want them to know that there is a light at the end of
the tunnel,” he said. “I want them to understand that
they’re not out here by themselves.”
