NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Lyndy Montes
(left) and Brigitte Dwyre participate in the
"Black Stars in a White Sky" program.
By Rachel Makabi
Daily Bruin Reporter
When Lyndy Montes first entered UCLA, she was often the only
African American student in her engineering classes.
But instead of only searching for other African American
students, Montes chose to mingle with people from different
ethnicities and cultures. With this fact, she addressed about 25
students Tuesday at a program titled “Black Stars in a White
Sky.”
The event, co-sponsored by the Academic Support Program and the
National Society of Black Engineers, exemplified the importance of
speaking with others from different backgrounds, Montes said.
“The idea of “˜Black Stars in a White Sky’
shows I have to stand out not only physically, but academically as
well,” said the third-year chemical engineering student.
“I may feel like the only star in my galaxy but that just
means I have to shine out the most.”
The program, Montes said, began as a response to decreasing
numbers of African American students on campus, especially in the
School of Engineering and Applied Science, which admitted eight
African American new incoming freshmen and transfer students this
year.
At the session, students discussed methods of dealing with
stereotypes people may have of them, as well as methods of forming
effective study groups in classes.
“Though we may feel isolated on campus, we need to work
with others from different backgrounds,” said Christopher
Young, a fourth-year physiological science student. “Even
though you may be the only black person in the class, you are not
the only person in the class.”
Students spoke about dealing with “stereotype
threat” on campus, a term used by Professor Claude M. Steele
of Stanford to describe the threat of being viewed from a negative
lens or the fear of doing something that would confirm a stereotype
someone may hold.
Many students said stereotype threat is still a prevalent
problem on campus, and that it interferes with the way a student
performs academically.
Shona Roberson, a fourth-year psychology student, said she was
not prepared to come to UCLA from her school in Compton, which had
many other African American students.
“When you get into a mainly white institution,
psychologically it really has horrible effects on any black
student,” Roberson said. “It is like when there is a
lot of expectation for you to do poorly on a test, you do just
that.”
Kishion Acosta, a fourth-year computer science and engineering
student, said he faced similar difficulties when he first entered
UCLA that prevented him from seeking help in his labs. But, he
said, it is beneficial to form relationships with others, so he
encourages incoming students to interact with peers.
“If there are other people there, there is no reason to
feel isolated,” Acosta said. “It is just a social
construct that they are seeing.”
Montes said it is important to join study groups to interact
with others from different backgrounds.
“Even if you are the only African American in your class,
you have to come together and study together,” Montes
said.
“It is not just about sticking to your own group ““
you need to branch out to others.”
CORRECTION:In “”˜Stars’
program encourages students” (News, Oct. 19), the Academic
Supports Program was misspelled. Also, the photo caption that ran
with the story online misidentified the Academic Advancement
Program as a co-sponsor of the event. Rather, the National Society
of Black Engineers and the Academic Supports Program hosted it.
Correction posted 10/22/01