The loud trumpet call across the
of
minority admissions is conspicuously quiet at UCSD. This university’s newest
admissions data shows that the most underrepresented students at this campus —
blacks and American Indians — are slipping in numbers. It marks a grim
indication of the long, steep climb in store for campus leaders.
At UCSD, admissions of underrepresented students showed a
6.9-percent increase overall, buoyed by a jump in the number of Latino admits.
But the admission of blacks and American Indians dropped 10.2 percent and 21.8
percent, respectively. The number of those students who enroll at UCSD could be
even smaller, considering its relatively undeveloped outreach and
diversity-related offices. And only 8.4 percent of admits were from local areas,
which could be mined for even larger gains in Latino admissions.
Sandra Daley, named the campus’ chief diversity officer in
January, is UCSD’s most apparent instrument in the fight to widen the
admissions pool.
The relatively new diversity office holds potential, with
administrators emphasizing Daley’s firsthand experience with local outreach and
her ability to forge collaborative and vital partnerships.
A meeting with the Guardian’s Editorial Board showed much of
that shine; Daley’s impressive resume with diversity issues in health care was
still dwarfed by her uncurbed enthusiasm to pick at the mountainous issue. Her
local hands-on work with the underrepresented better positions her to address
this campus’ needs, and sweetens the prospect of local diversity-related
partnerships and initiatives. Daley has a knack in that exact area, as she
oversaw the creation of programs like the
Medicine. Daley herself speaks of UCSD’s diversity problems like a sociologist,
hoping to critically examine trends and prod the world of academia for
solutions.
Daley’s office will hopefully be the machine that generates
more than just diversity-related grants, scholarships and programs, but a
tangible, vibrantly progressive social consciousness at UCSD.
Daley’s best-suited partner could be right across campus.
Lisa Chen, the newly elected A.S. vice president of external affairs, has also
expressed a flair for collaboration, citing partnerships between underrepresented
workers and students in the common cause for standard wages. Daley’s academic
take on the diversity problem makes a unique mesh with Chen’s student-worker
collective; together, the two cover widely separated, but equally important,
solutions.
And both will be blessed with S.P.A.C.E.S., an outreach
center in
which should be the site of any campus-related outreach work in local areas. It
will offer a much-needed physical space dedicated to diversity-related work.
Its effectiveness will be needed to address UCSD’s now-glaring problem.
