Community college students packed a lecture hall at Mesa College on Wednesday to meet with UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. It was part of UCSD's renewed effort to recruit minority transfer students.
It is the first time this has ever happened at Mesa College. Top ranking officials including Chancellor Fox were giving their best sales pitch to a packed house. Nineteen-year-old Luis Janos came armed with a notepad and pen.
“I haven't applied or anything. That's what I'm here for. To get information and see what I have to do,” Janos said.
UCSD targets community colleges because they produce academically-qualified minority students. Recruiting more underrepresented students is something that Fox has agreed to do. Earlier this year, UCSD was rocked by a series of racially inflammatory incidents targeting black students. Now Fox is focused on making the campus more diverse.
“We're trying to show very clearly that UCSD cares for all our students, but especially our underrepresented students,” Fox said.
Vanessa Brown is an African-American student who is considering applying to UCSD. Brown says in the end, she just wants to attend a top-notch school.
“Like ethnic wise, it's more of a Caucasian and Asian school. I know that. But it doesn't stop me from wanting to apply. I'm used to always being different, so it doesn't affect me,” Brown said.
New fall admissions data shows a nearly 7 percent increase in the number of certain minority students offered admission to UCSD. This comes at a time when UC schools are admitting fewer students overall. Fox says the challenge now is to get minority students to accept UCSD's offer.
More than 380 black students were offered admission, and roughly 2,500 Latinos are also among the qualifying students.
In total, more than 18,000 freshman could choose to attend UCSD. Black, Latino and Native American students only make up 16 percent of the total student population offered admission to UCSD.
