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发帖数: 3978 | 1 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/08/ucla-black-enrollment-
The black students at University of California, Los Angeles, sent a strong
message about diversity at their school. Namely, the fact that there isn't
much when it comes to African-American males, a troubling fact for one of
the state's most elite institutions.
A group of students, led by Sy Stokes, posted a video voicing their concerns
about the number of black students on campus, and their message is hard to
ignore. 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.
In an interview with the Daily Bruin, Stokes said he almost dropped out of
UCLA during his first year because he felt isolated and uncomfortable.
Although he eventually found his niche in the minority community, he said he
wanted to raise awareness about the school's lack of diversity before the
university's application deadline on Nov. 30.
“We had to do something to put our issues on the map,” Stokes said.
In an email statement to the school paper, Janina Montero, vice chancellor
of student affairs, said administrators acknowledge the need for more
diversity and are attempting to work within the state's admission parameters.
“We certainly recognize that the low numbers of African Americans and other
underrepresented students on campus does lead to a sense of isolation and
invisibility,” Montero said in her email statement. “It is difficult to
eliminate this painful imbalance without considering race in the admissions
process.”
The state of California voted down affirmative action in 1996 and passed
Proposition 209, which banned state schools from considering race, gender,
ethnicity or national origins in their admissions processes. Black student
enrollment has severely decreased since that provision and critics are
saying that has to change.
The students' video adds to the ongoing affirmative action debate both
inside and outside of the state, raising awareness about diversity at
institutions around the country. Stokes said he feels responsible for
spreading the word about the unknown challenges of being a minority student
at UCLA and the ongoing lack of diversity on campus.
"Being the cousin of Arthur Ashe, I feel as though it is my responsibility
to uphold the strong voices of the Black Bruin community," he said. This
school has experienced unacceptable instances of injustice recently, and
many people are not aware of what is happening at this university." |
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