Crossing Borders: Underrepresented & Migrant Populations in US Higher Education

1. Crossing Borders:Underrepresented & Migrant Populations in US Higher Education C. Adolfo Bermeo, Ph.D. Senior Scholar Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education AdolfoBermeo@diversity-today.com 310-6283603

2. FOR THE CHILDREN OF PRIVILIGE THE ROAD TO THE AMERICAN DREAM IS WIDE OPEN • A DIRECT ROUTE • NO ROADBLOCKS • NO BARRIERS • NO DETOURS

3. FROM KINDERGARTEN THROUGH COLLEGE THERE IS AN EXPECTATION THAT THEY • WILL SUCCEED • WILL EXCEL • WILL ATTAIN THE AMERICAN DREAM 2

4. BUT THAT WILL NOT BE THE CASE FOR THE CHILDREN OF STRUGGLE: • AFRICAN AMERICANS • LATINOS • NATIVE AMERICANS • THE POOR OF ALL RACES

5. AND IT WILL NOT BE THE CASE FOR MANY IMMIGRANTS • PARTICULARLY THOSE WHO COME FROM POVERTY IN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES

6. We live in a world of Savage Inequalities • A world of Haves and Have-Nots • A world of dreams, hopes, & aspirations denied • A world in which there is ready access to the fruits of United States society for some • And closed doors for others

7. A World Turned Upside Down • In Los Angeles County • The 50 richest people control $60 billion while • 23% of families earn less than $20,000 p/year. • 20% of families live below the federal poverty level of $18,100 p/year while • 3% of families earn more than $200,000 p/yr and • 43% of Latino children • 37% of African American children • 21% of Asian and White children • 13% of elderly of all races • Live in poverty

8. In California There Are 160,000 Male Prisoners • African Americans make up 1/3 of that population, approximately 55,000 inmates • In fact there are more than twice as many African American men in California prisons as there are • African American undergraduates • Male and female combined • On the 23 campuses of the CSU and 9 undergraduate campuses of the UC system combined

9. IT IS 7 TIMES MORE LIKELY FOR • African American male 18-25 • To be in prison • Than to be UC eligible • Thatis not only shameful, it is criminal

10. While African Americans and Latinos--- • Men, women, & children combined--- made up 25% of the US population in the 2000 census • African American and Latino men made up 63% of the almost 2 million male inmates in the US prison population that same year • Patas Arriba: a society that puts more money into prisons than schools

11. OF EVERY 100 AFRICAN AMERICAN, LATINO AND NATIVE AMERICAN CHILDREN: • 50 WON’T GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL • 10 WILL GO TO COLLEGE • 8 0F THOSE WILL GO TO A COMMUNITY COLLEGE • THE OPEN DOOR

12. BUT IN FACT, THE OPEN DOOR IS • A REVOLVING DOOR • WITH LESS THAN 15% OF THOSE STUDENTS TRANSFERING TO A UNIVERSITY

13. AND OF THOSE WHO ENTER THE UNIVERSITY • BOTH AS FRESHMEN AND AS TRANSFER STUDENTS • LESS THAN 50% WILL GRADUATE

14. WE BLAME THEIR WORLD: • CULTURE • POVERTY • ENVIRONMENT • DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES • BROKEN HOMES • PARENTAL INDIFFERENCE 5

15. AND DEVELOP A LANGUAGE • TO DESCRIBE & DEFINE THEM AS: • Underprepared • Culturally Disadvantaged • Unmotivated • At Risk

16. WE CREATE REMEDIAL PROGRAMS • Based on: • Student Weaknesses • Student Deficits • Rather Than On: • Student Strengths and • Student Experience

17. PROGRAMS FOCUSED ON: • Academic Survival • On Fixing the Student and • On Changing the Student • To Fit the Institution

18. SO THE QUESTION IS: HOW DO WE DEVELOP SCHOOLS AND PROGRAMS THAT ENCOURAGE ALL STUDENTS TO DREAM, ASPIRE, AND EXCEL?

19. THAT STAND FOR • ACCESS • OPPORTUNITY • EQUITY • EXCELLENCE • SOCIAL JUSTICE

20. REQUIRES A RETHINKING OF OUR SCHOOLS, PROGRAMS AND SELVES • WHAT DO WE DO AND WHY DO WE DO IT? • HOW DO WE DO IT? • WHO DO WE DO IT FOR? • WHAT DO WE BELIEVE ABOUT OUR STUDENTS? • WHAT DO WE EXPECT FROM OUR STUDENTS? • WHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF OUR EFFORTS? • HOW CAN WE IMPROVE?

21. A PEDAGOGY OF EXCELLENCE • MUST BE GROUNDED IN THE BELIEF THAT ALL STUDENTS HAVE THE: • RIGHT TO AN EDUCATION • CAPACITY TO LEARN • POTENTIAL TO EXCEL • ARE AT POTENTIAL RATHER THAN AT RISK

22. A PEDAGOGY THAT: • COMMUNICATES CONFIDENCE IN EVERY STUDENT • MOTIVATES & ENCOURAGES ALL STUDENTS TO: • EXPLORE THEIR TALENTS & ABILITIES • ASPIRE TO PERSONAL & ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE • SET THE HIGHEST STANDARDS FOR THEMSELVES • TAKE THE MOST CHALLENGING COURSES • ACT TO CHANGE THE WORLD

23. REQUIRES A CAMPUS COMMUNITY THAT: • SETS THE HIGHEST EXPECTATIONS FOR EVERY STUDENT • SETS THE HIGHEST STANDARDS FOR EVERY STUDENT • AND PROVIDES THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF SUPPORT FOR EVERY STUDENT

24. REQUIRES A LEADERSHIP THAT: • PRIORITIZES RESOURCES TO ENSURE THAT STUDENTS OF STRUGGLE HAVE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO SUCCEED AND TO EXCEL

25. REQUIRES FACULTY AND COUNSELORS THAT: • WORK WITH STUDENTS TO: • PLAN THEIR ACADEMIC PROGRAM • MONITOR THEIR ACADEMIC PROGRESS • INFORM THEM ABOUT: • FINANCIAL AID GUIDELINES & DEADLINES • SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNIITES • CAMPUS PROGRAMS & SERVICES

26. AND THAT BUILD ON: • THE LIFE EXPERIENCES STUDENTS BRING TO THEIR EDUCATION • THEIR LEGITIMATE RAGE AT THE CONDITIONS OF THEIR WORLD • THEIR DESIRE TO CHANGE AND IMPROVE THEIR WORLD AND THE BROADER SOCIETY

27. Work with the strengths that students bring to the table • With their resiliency & courage to flourish amidst: • The everyday terror • Of poverty • Of unemployment • Of underemployment • Of lack of access • To education • To healthcare • Theirs are not deficits but strengths

28. A CAMPUS COMMUNITY THAT: • IDENTIFIES INSTITUTIONAL OBSTACLES • SEEKS SOLUTIONS TO THOSE OBSTACLES • HOLDS ITSELF ACCOUNTABLE FOR EVERY STUDENT’S ACADEMIC SUCCESS • ENCOURAGES EVERY STUDENT TO EXCEL

29. DEVELOPS PARTNERSHIPS FOR EXCELLENCE • WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS & LEADERS • PARENTS • BUSINESSES • AGENCIES • CHURCHES, MOSQUES • WITH ALL SEGMENTS OF EDUCATION • SCHOOLS • COLLEGES • UNIVERSITIES • TRIO PROGRAMS

30. DEVELOPS AN ACADEMIC COMMUNITY • Focused on excellence, engagement, and participation • One that stresses to every student • That the program, the school, the college, the university is theirs • That they belong • That they have a place • That they have a right to every • Resource • Service • Program

31. A COMMUNITY IN WHICH ALL STUDENTS: • ARE FULLY ENGAGED IN CAMPUS LIFE • PARTICIPATING CITIZENS WHO TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THEIR ACADEMIC LIVES

32. WHILE ALWAYS REMEMBERING THE BIGGER PICTURE • THAT OUR STUDENTS ARE: • IMMIGRANTS • LOW INCOME • FIRST GENERATION • UNDERREPRESENTED • UNDERSERVED

33. WHOSE LIVES ARE OFTEN ON THE BOUNDARIES: • CULTURAL, POLITICAL, & ECONOMIC DISLOCATION AND MARGINILIZATION • FAMILY PRESSURES & RESPONSIBILIITES • FINANCIAL PRESSURES & RESPONSIBILITIES • SOCIAL PRESSURES & DEMANDS • INDIVIDUAL FEARS & ANXIETIES

34. IN EVERY ONE OF OUR SCHOOLS, CLASSROOMS, AND PROGRAMS • There is a doctor • who will care for the ill • There is a teacher • for a better tomorrow • There is a lawyer • who will give voice to the voiceless • There is a community organizer • to work with the powerless

35. THAT IS WHY WE MUST REMAIN COMMITED TO: • MAKING EDUCATION AN INSTRUMENT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE • OPENING DOORS • INCREASING ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY • BUILDING A MORE JUST & HUMANE SOCIETY FOR ALL • DEVELOPING LEADERS WHO WILL TRANSFORM THEIR LIVES & OUR SOCIETY

36. The Results at UCLA 1985-2005 • 1985 Graduation Rates for African American and Latino/a Students in AAP: 45% • 2005 Graduation rates for African American and Latino/a students in AAP: 83% • The highest graduation rate for historically underrepresented students of any public research university in the country.

37. This Was Accomplished by: • Developing and Implementing the Pedagogy of Excellence • Prioritizing Resources for Direct Services for Students • Expanding Tutorial, Counseling, and Peer Counseling Services • Developing a Graduate Mentor Program • Moving AAP and its Students from the Margins to the Center of Academic Life

38. AAP’s Budget of $3 million Provided: • A Freshman and Transfer Summer Program for more than 400 students • Tutoring, Counseling, Peer Counseling, and a Graduate Mentor program for 6000 students • A Community of Engagement, Participation, and Citizenship

39. But In A World Turned Upside Down • This administration has spent over $500 billion on the war in Iraq • $5 billion per month • $100,000 per minute

40. I close with a quote from a Native American poem • "It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have; I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children."