Why Some Blacks Feel Locked Out at UC Irvine

When Moleto Smith enrolled at UC Irvine in 1982, he felt like “a black intruder” on a campus where fewer than 3% of the students were black.

“It was intimidating,” said Smith, who was graduated in 1987 and now works for an Orange County computer company. “At one point, when I saw a white person, I just expected something (bad) to happen.”

When Smith attended UCI, black students complained frequently of being stopped by campus police and asked for identification. Several student groups were labeled racist and insensitive after a fraternity show in which members performed in blackface and held a mock slave auction in which students were “sold” to serve other students.

“It was an experience I needed to go through,” Smith said. “I guess you can’t say the university is responsible, but the atmosphere at the university is conducive to incidents.

“The biggest problem here is ignorance. Being away from it has given me a healthier outlook. But would I return to UCI? No.”

Senior Pernell Clark also said he would attend another university if he had it to do again. “For the most part, I’ve had a very educating experience at Irvine; good and bad times. But I wouldn’t go back. I personally would go somewhere like UCLA because there are more African-American students.”

Horace Mitchell, vice chancellor of student affairs, said students who say they would have chosen another school don’t have a “point of comparison.” “I know it will get better,” Mitchell said, but it may take longer than some hope. “We’re living with the history of insufficient progress.”

The negative experiences of some black students have caused concern at UCI for many years. And some say time hasn’t helped remedy the situation. Currently, there are 375 black students on a campus of 16,000. While the size of the student body has doubled in the past 10 years, the number of blacks has increased by only 80 or 90 students. There are only 19 blacks among 1,032 full-time employees at the university and medical center. And there are only 11 black faculty members.

Black students and faculty agree that UCI needs to increase the number of blacks on campus at all levels to make it more diverse.

“When I get out, I don’t want to live around all black people, all white people or all Asian people,” Clark said. “I want to live around a conglomeration of all kinds of people. That’s lacking here.”

Thomas Parham, now director of UCI’s Career Planning and Placement Center and a UCI graduate, said that despite instances of racism and insensitivity, UCI is still an excellent academic institution for black students.

“There was a supportive group of black faculty and staff, and some whites, when I was here,” said Parham, who graduated in 1977. “I came back here because I wanted to come here.”

Some black students and faculty say their experiences at UCI would improve if ethnic studies were required for all students. That issue is being debated in the faculty senate.

There are other signs that UCI is improving, some blacks say. Last week, UCI concluded its fifth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium, a series of events in conjunction with the national holiday. And the school recently hired a black professor from Harvard and is considering hiring others.

Still, Smith is not hopeful that UCI ever will have a comfortable atmosphere for black students. “The world is not getting more tolerant (of blacks),” said Smith. “You can’t look at UCI without looking at what’s happening in the world.”