Portia McGroarty
In an effort to increase student diversity, a group of teachers, administrators and staff members are volunteering their time to help set into motion the African American Outreach Initiative.
“There are a lot of disconnected youths in Los Angeles and the chancellor felt we needed more outreach activities. These programs seek to nurture development and help with the social adjustment to college,” said Lisa Fitch of L.A. Community College District (LACCD) Public Relations.
In 2004 only 14 percent of the student population in the LACCD was black and of those, only 40 percent of which were male.
Worried by the slow decrease of black male enrollment over the past 20 years, a small group of teachers and administrators who are enthusiastic about making a difference are banding together to target the “disconnected’ youth of L.A.
The goal of this initiative is to expose black students to a world of college opportunities.
Providing community college students with consistent guidance and a helping hand is the basis of the African American Outreach Initiative.
Creating a circle of support, the program will provide students with a mentor whom they can meet on a regular basis and discuss their classes and other issues.
“Wow… I wish something like this had come along earlier. I think if I had someone checking in on me from the very beginning, my first years at Pierce might have been quite different,” said Pierce student Fanny Sanchez, 25.
With the notion of unity at the forefront of their mission, combining the concepts of various programs and reaching a broader audience is what separates this initiative from those already in existence.
The program will be very similar to San Jose’s Evergreen Valley College’s AFFIRM, which focuses on ‘the retention, matriculation and transfer of African American students.’
“We are currently working on the organizing principles, so nothing is set in stone just yet. But our focus is on supporting the academic success of African American students and supporting the persistence and retention of students toward educational goals of transferring or getting their degree,” said Fitch.
These programs are currently supported largely by individual fundraising and volunteers.
“Right now there’s no coordination between the programs on the various community colleges, but with this one we are hoping to generate something that can unite all nine LACCD campuses,” said Fitch.
The few schools that do have programs have started them on their own because there is no deep resource available.
“I had no idea that they cared so much. It is great that people are willing to donate their time and money in order to help us out and I think it will be an amazing program,” said Kelly Oswald, a 19 year-old Pierce student.
Although the catalyst for this particular outreach program stems from the declining rate of black students enrolling in the LACCD, it will be open to all ethnicities.
The program is still in the building stages, but is expected to make its way into the district’s nine campuses by Fall 2008.