The top sophomore students from high schools with large minority populations in California visited Cal Poly as part of a pre-collegiate symposium to help them plan for higher education.
The program also serves to add diversity to the existing student body at Cal Poly.
The roughly 200 visiting sophomores spent 24 hours on campus receiving tours, doing group icebreakers and attending workshops.
“Most underprivileged students are in the larger cities like L.A. and San Francisco,” program coordinator Melissa Pierce said. “It’s definitely a program aimed at diversifying Cal Poly by informing these underrepresented students about the school.”
The two-day symposium was hosted by the Cal Poly Partners Program, a recruitment program that establishes formal partnerships with first generation, low-income high schools that have lower college attendance rates.
“I knew I wanted to work in education outreach,” Pierce said. “The lack of a level playing field at a lot of high schools motivated me to want to help change it.”
Beginning with 22 high schools in 1999, the university now has 182 partner schools from across the state. Grant money and the university provide all the funding for the event including meals, transportation and facilities.
The program’s purpose is to inform minority students about the opportunities offered at Cal Poly, a challenge since many of the students were unfamiliar with the university.
Mariah Espinosa traveled to San Luis Obispo from the Bay Area. She said she didn’t recall ever hearing about Cal Poly until she saw the sweatshirts around campus and recognized the logo.
“I didn’t know if a four-year was for me but being here has opened my eyes to a lot,” Espinosa said.
To be invited, students need to have a minimum 3.6 GPA.
Carol Mills, a counselor at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, chaperoned for the symposium for the ninth time.
“The more adventurous usually go. For those that don’t come, some have never been out of their neighborhood and aren’t willing to venture this far, or the parents won’t let them,” she said.
Nadia Ventura, a counselor from Santa Maria High School, was another returning chaperon this year.
“These kids haven’t had as many opportunities and most have never stayed overnight at a college campus,” Ventura said.
The students and chaperons were greeted by 15 Cal Poly group leaders, most of whom attended one of the partner schools.
“We see so many sophomores that come through and now they are Cal Poly students,” Pierce said. “They were shy and scared and now they are helping lead and run the event.”
Sociology junior Daniel Galvan and general engineering freshman Nick Simon helped lead the event this year. They graduated from Ramona High School.
“These are valedictorians and students at the top of their class most likely to go to schools like Cal Poly,” Galvan said. “We make sure they stay together and are having a good time. They are only sophomores so we are planting a seed for them to come to Cal Poly.”
“When they hear about graduates starting up Jamba Juice and other senior projects, they get hyped,” Mills said.
For the evening, the chaperons stayed at Embassy Suites while the sophomores spent the night on campus through the Vista Host Program, a volunteer opportunity for enrolled students in on-campus housing to host one or two visiting students.
Before leaving, the sophomores are given a tour of two different academic colleges selected randomly, unless they show a specific interest in one.
“This is just to show them there are different options,” Galvan said. “Most don’t really know what they want to do yet.”
College ambassadors gave tours of their academic departments. Graphic communication senior Rachel Hutchinson gave multiple tours Friday.
“We are asked to give our expertise on our majors,” she said. “The program emphasizes the importance of going to college and helps to broaden their understanding of what’s available.”
Hayoon Chung, a sophomore at the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Students, said she had originally planned on coming just to get a couple days off from school. Chung said she now thinks she wants to be an architect.
“In L.A., they talk about the Ivy leagues and the UCs,” Chung said. “They don’t encourage the Cal States, so I never really looked into Cal Poly. The professors seem personal and the architecture program seems more fun, but also hard.”
The students that come notice the lack of diversity on campus.
“When we leave, my kids often comment on how white the campus is,” Mills said. “I just tell them, ‘If you don’t go there, it will never change.'”