San Diego Continuing Education will Begin Umoja Chapter at ECC for African American Students

Nov 07, 2008
Ranessa Ashton
Public Information Officer

Umoja is a Kiswahili word meaning “unity.” In an educational environment, Umoja is a learning community dedicated to enhancing the cultural and educational experiences of African Americans. This is important as African American students are disproportionately represented in post-secondary schools.

“Umoja’s mission is to develop a culturally-based learning environment, enabling the voices and histories of African American students to be deliberately recognized, so opportunities for self-efficacy emerge and form the foundation for academic success,” said Dr. Anthony E. Beebe, President of San Diego Continuing Education. “These efforts create an environment, enabling students to feel connected to a campus and other students.”

San Diego Continuing Education will begin an Umoja program at the Educational Cultural Complex (ECC) campus on Ocean View Boulevard. The commitment to begin an Umoja program at ECC was the result of a professional development conference hosted at the campus on Saturday, November 1.

The California Alliance of African American Educators (CAAAE) hosted the professional development workshop, which brought together decision makers from the San Diego Community College District, SDSU, UCSD, USD, as well as San Diego Unified, Poway, Oceanside, and Lemon Grove school districts. This year’s workshop theme was: A Call to Action for San Diego Decision Makers to Address the Local Educational Crisis for African American Families. Educational leaders met with parents and community members to address the tremendous achievement gap between white students and African American students.

During the workshop, Dr. Beebe led the brainstorming session for the two-year educational institutions and committed his organization to developing an Umoja chapter for African American students. “San Diego City College has a thriving Umoja chapter so we will collaborate closely with its administrators and faculty, using the success strategies they have developed,” said Beebe. “We plan to have our chapter in full swing by summer 2009.”

State Superintendent Jack O’Connell also attended the workshop and presented staggering statistics about the current educational achievement gap in California between white students and African American students. Although there has been an overall increase in test scores for all students over the past six years, the achievement gap between these two groups remains unchanged at 31%, and it is harmful to the success of African American students. Superintendent O'Connell has a statewide initiative for a special P-16 council to identify ways the state can better assist counties, districts, and schools in their efforts to help all children succeed academically. His attendance at the CAAAE professional development workshop reinforced his commitment to his comprehensive plan.

“Of the more than 100,000 students we serve annually through San Diego Continuing Education classes, only 9% are African American. Our goal is to increase that number substantially by better meeting the needs of our community and understanding what educational barriers exist, so we can remove them. We believe an Umoja chapter will help with this effort,” said Beebe.

San Diego Continuing Education is the only community college continuing education institution in California to meet the standards for independent accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. San Diego Continuing Education serves more than 100,000 students per academic year. Hundreds of classes are available at no cost, and noncredit classes are available online.

Umoja actively serves and promotes student success for all students through an organized, focus curriculum that is responsive to the legacy of the African and African American cultures. The organization believes that when the voices and histories of students are deliberately and intentionally recognized, the opportunity for self-efficacy emerges and a foundation is formed for academic success. Learn more at www.umojacorporation.org.

The CAAAE’s sole purpose is to provide programs and services to students, families, and teachers in order to create culturally conscious African American students who are life-long learners and critical thinker. Learn more at www.caaae.org.

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San Diego Continuing Education will Begin Umoja Chapter at ECC for African American Students