Fullerton : Drive to Aid Minority Students Is Announced

Claiming that the Cal State system is trying to deny minority students equal access to education, three Latino students announced Wednesday that they will mobilize a statewide effort to curb the high school dropout rate and begin a petition drive seeking the state’s help to guarantee access to post-secondary education.

Cal State Fullerton representatives from Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (Mecha), a student activist group, said at a press conference that they will also propose a plan that Latino and other minority organizations throughout the state seek “judicial relief from poor educational policies” and to institute changes to improve the state’s educational system.

The announcement precedes a regional conference of the Latino groups this Saturday, where students are expected to discuss the educational problems of minority students and the recent passage of the stiffer university requirements by the Cal State system’s Board of Trustees.

“What is staggering is that when Chicanos protested in the ‘60s, the principal issue of concern was that Chicanos have been excluded from the educational process,” said Lorraine Sanchez, the group’s community chairwoman. “And here we are today in the ‘80s addressing the same issues. If we ask ourselves, ‘Have we made any progress?’ We would have to answer, ‘No, we have not.’ ”

A recent study released by the California Post-Secondary Education Commission revealed that 34% of Latino students who entered high school in 1979 and 1980 eventually dropped out. Meanwhile, 33% of the black students who enrolled in high school in those years also dropped out.

Mecha member Stephanie Lopez said Latino students at Cal State Fullerton will begin efforts to try to stimulate growth of minority students in the universities.

The effort, Lopez said, is centered on the Escalera Student Mentor Program, which is designed to train college students to become mentors and role models for high school students whose schools consistently have high dropout rates.

The program is expected to be introduced at Saturday’s conference in the hopes of extending the program statewide and developing Escalera organizations, she said.