University renews diversity program

By Gina Belmonte

In attempts to increase minority enrollment, the Board of Trustees approved funds to sustain the Leadership Excellence and Academic Development Scholars Program, and Undergraduate Admission is boosting its recruitment strategies by teaming up with the Youth Empowerment Program, a student component of the Multicultural Center that promotes higher education in middle and high schools.

Both efforts are aimed at continuing to attract and retain more minority students, which represented 35 percent of the 2007-2008 freshman class, a 3 percent increase from the 2006-2007 freshman class profile.

The LEAD Scholars Program, which offers support for first-generation students and students of color admitted to Santa Clara, will be going into its sixth year this summer after facing some major restructuring upon the June 2007 expiration of its funding source, the Irvine Grant.

The Board of Trustees approved the renewal of institutional funds for the LEAD Scholars program, which comes from the Drahmann Center's budget, on March 15.

Since its inception in 2003 as the Bridge program, the LEAD Scholars Program has expanded to include twice the original number of students and was able to offer study seminars throughout fall and winter quarters. It also shortened its summer component, a set of rigorous academic courses and team-building activities, from two and a half weeks to one week.

Additionally, the university would like to integrate the LEAD Scholars Program as a component of the University Honors Program so that students who have participated in LEAD during their first year can stay connected and find out about opportunities for scholarships and fellowships, said Jeanne Rosenberger, vice provost of student life.

"The goal is to create a synergy, and provide as many opportunities to students, with the union of these programs," Rosenberger said.

Meanwhile, YEP and Undergraduate Admission have teamed up to improve the tours and programming for visiting high schools and outreach groups, such as Advancement Via Individual Determination, Puente, and Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement.

In previous years, Undergraduate Admission did not work directly with YEP, but did offer prospective minority students a 30-minute informational session led by an admission counselor and a one-hour tour led by one or more student ambassadors.

But the ambassador program does not have many minority representatives, said Lorenzo Gamboa, assistant director of undergraduate admissions.

"They are a selective few, predominantly Caucasian (ambassadors)," said Lorenzo Gamboa. "We get a lot of the Avid, Puente, and MESA students that want to come here, but don't see a shared perspective."

With the inclusion of YEP in the student panels at informational sessions, students of a different backgrounds can find answers to their questions about college life and how it affects them as members of a diverse background, said Jon Wong, director of YEP.

Founded between 1998 and 1999 by Mark Gallegos, YEP has crusaded to promote higher education among minorities in local communities by visiting middle schools and high schools and inviting underrepresented students to tour Santa Clara, said Victoria Duran, director of YEP in 2004-2005.

But it often felt like YEP was doing a job too big for its capacity and resources, said Duran.

"Here is this program, and it's been around for so long within the MCC, we felt like we were doing the work that the university should be doing as a whole," said Duran. "It wasn't being integrated with the greater community."

This spring quarter, with the efforts of Jon Wong, current YEP director and Assistant Directors of Admission Marisela Rubio and Melvin Gaines, YEP will make a greater effort to integrate its mission with admission in improving diversity.

Ideally, YEP student members will receive training and become "certified" ambassadors to perhaps give tours as well, but no plans have been finalized, said Wong and Gamboa.

Undergraduate Admission will also implement a shift in focus in the informational sessions. Rather than strictly providing facts, the sessions will present statistics on higher education and promote the benefits of attending a university, said Miranda Niemoth, associate director of Undergraduate Admission.

By including YEP in its programming, Undergraduate Admission can better develop relationships between communities that aren't included in the regularly assigned recruitment regions, said Gaines.

He added there are several non-Jesuit institutions that have qualified students, but such students may not seek a private university, said Gaines. YEP can help develop relationships with those schools, increasing the diversity of prospective students, Gaines said.

With the help of student clubs in the MCC, Undergraduate Admission also hosts events to welcome accepted students of color and prepare them for college life. Noche Latina and Sadie, overnight programs for students of Latino and African-American descent, respectively, host several informational sessions, ranging from financial aid advice to time management skills, as well as social events in the Bronco.

About 68 percent of the students who come to the university's events geared toward minorities enroll in Santa Clara, according to a Campus Diversity Initiative Report available online.

Contact Gina Belmonte at (408) 554-4546 or gbelmonte@scu.edu.