McKesey is a third-year political science and African-American studies student. She serves as the chairwoman of the SIOC.
By Anica McKesey
The elimination of race, ethnicity and gender from the University of California admissions process in 1995 inspired UCLA student organizations to develop the Student-Initiated Outreach Committee.
Recognizing an educational and social crisis in the state of California that is also rampant throughout this country, the current SIOC projects provide direct services to disenfranchised communities based on the fundamental belief that education is a human right.
It is these student organizations that are at the forefront of student-initiated outreach and retention programs in the country, calling on students to take the necessary steps to reverse the detrimental effects of educational disadvantage.
On July 26, Governor Gray Davis signed the California state budget, which includes $44,753,000 to all University of California outreach efforts. Included in this package was a $1 million commitment to student-initiated efforts on all nine of the UC campuses.
However, Davis left a $2 million cut in the overall outreach budget (originally $46,753,000); he left it to the discretion of the UC.
In signing the budget, Davis acknowledges the importance, effectiveness and need for student-initiated outreach efforts, and UCLA’s SIOC is confident that the UC will recognize students’ efforts. After all, it is our projects that have consistently attempted to ensure the UC student population represents the diversity of the state of California in a post-affirmative action era.
The SIOC provides an environment that empowers both college students and those served in educationally disadvantaged communities.
Through peer advising, tutoring, mentorship, interaction with parents and a plethora of other services, the youth become proactive about their education and make it relevant to their diverse experiences.
UCLA students who act as advisors, tutors and mentors remain grounded in the fact that they are representatives of the community from which they come and can never view themselves as isolated individuals in the university. The SIOC was created on these beliefs.
It is important that we define “student-initiated” outreach and the unique qualities of student-initiated efforts. Student-initiated and student-run outreach enables UCLA students to create outreach projects that address the particular needs of particular communities.
As students who come directly from the communities we serve, we have the experience and understand the needs of the communities from which we come. Through the SIOC, our projects target diverse communities, each working under a system created by students effectively holding our services accountable to the community.
The SIOC is now composed of projects sponsored by the following student advocacy groups: African Student Union, American Indian Students Association, Asian Pacific Coalition and Pacific Islander Student Association, MEChA de UCLA, Muslim Students Association, Samahang Pilipino and Vietnamese Student Union.
Although, the university offers its own outreach efforts through Early Academic Outreach Programs (EAOP), it is student-initiated and student-run efforts at UCLA that empower students to define our own philosophy, methodology and approaches to outreach.
At UCLA, we seek to empower the students we serve academically while we provide support with social, economic, community and family issues that also impact their ability to maximize their potential.
Student-assessed fees and the UC currently fund the SIOC. The state budget passed last month would help the SIOC projects to further grow and develop.
The costs of running seven outreach projects with as many as five sites within each project requires staff, volunteers, supplies, educational materials and transportation – costs that can seem overwhelming and should not be funded solely by students.
In order to solidify the funding allocated by the state, the SIOC plans to submit a proposal to the UCOP and UCLA administration that details the function, goals and objectives of the committee and its projects, in addition to a plan of action as to how the money will be used in order to prevent any changes to our budget.