One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Video: Black UCLA Students Highlight Lack Of Diversity On Campus
A video posted on Monday has sparked a discussion on the lack of African-American students on the UCLA campus.
The creator of the video, Sy Stokes, is seen reciting a spoken-word poem that highlights the isolation many black UCLA students have felt while attending the university. The video is full of interesting information, including the falling retention rates for black male UCLA students and the fact that the graduation rate for black males at UCLA is 74 percent, which is the lowest among high-ranking educational institutions.
But one stands out: According to Stokes, UCLA has more national championships (109) than black male freshmen (48) currently enrolled at the university. Indeed, according to statistics, 3.8 percent of the undergraduate student body are African-American.
Stokes, a third-year Afro-American Studies major, told the Daily Bruin he almost dropped out due to the difficulty of finding people who shared his interests and feeling scrutinized for being black.
"[That feeling] makes [black people] stick to their comfort zones because they want to feel safe - physically and emotionally," Stokes told The Daily Bruin.
Since the video's posting on Monday, it has been viewed over 130,000 times and has sparked a discussion on affirmative action in the state, especially in regards to Proposition 209, which banned universities from using affirmative action practices to bring more minority students onto their campuses.
Sponsored message
Stokes has also authored a Change.org petition to try to initiate better diversity practices than the ones currently employed by the university.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
