UCLA has more championships than black male freshmen
When it comes to black men, their presence on college campuses isn’t felt as strong as it needs to be. University of California, Los Angeles, has more NCAA championships than black male freshmen.
If this fact doesn’t speak to the importance of placing the task of increasing enrollment of black males in college at the top of the priority list, we don’t know what will. A group of students have voiced their concerns about the revelation in hopes of changing the lack of diversity on the campus.
Sy Stokes, a third-year Afro-American studies student who identifies as black, Cherokee and Chinese, recites a spoken word poem in the video, citing blaring statistics about the university’s diversity issue.
According to the school’s enrollment statistics, African-Americans make up 3.8 percent of the student population. In the video, Stokes points out that black males make up 3.3 percent of the male student population, and that 65 percent of those black males are undergraduate athletes. Of the incoming men in the freshmen class, only 1.9 percent of them were black.
Stokes said he almost dropped out his freshmen year because he felt isolated and uncomfortable. While he eventually found his niche, he still wants to call attention to the school’s lack of diversity before the university’s application deadline on Nov. 30.
Janina Montero, vice chancellor of student affairs, said officials realize the need for more diversity and are attempting to work within the state’s admission parameters. California currently has a ban on affirmative action where schools cannot factor in race when considering prospects for admission.
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