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BE PART OF THIS MONUMENTAL MOMENT AT UCLA
After years of activism and organizing by students, UCLA opened a Black Bruin Resource Center (BBRC) to support the Black Bruin experience and educational journey. The center was born in the middle of the pandemic and is officially open to all students! The physical space is located in Kerckoff Hall, measures 1,500 square feet, and includes space for meetings, community programs, computer and printing stations for students to use, and much more.
THE BLACK BRUIN EXPERIENCE
The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) has an enrollment of 45,000 students. Only 5.9 percent are self-identified as Black / African American for fiscal year (FY) 2021, making the Black Bruin experience unique. The UCLA Black Bruin Resource Center (BBRC) will serve as a hub for the Black and Afrikan Diaspora community and provide resources to increase retention and graduation rate while playing a role in creating equity and access in education. The center governs student and community programs geared to uplift, support, and inspire the Black Bruin experience. It will provide leadership opportunities, scholarships, and programmatic support for the Afrikan Student Union.
We Need Your Help to Establish the Black Bruin Resource Center.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Support the grand opening of the Black Bruin Resource Center by being 1 of the first 200 donors to donate to the center. The center will offer Bruins of the African Diaspora ways to connect with their peers, faculty, staff, alumni, and UCLA as a whole - BUT this is only possible through the support of the Bruin community. Being a new center on campus, we need office supplies, furniture, computers, and much more . . .
Support the grand opening of the Black Bruin Resource Center with a gift today!
WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE CENTER
The BBRC has partnered with various campus units, like undergraduate admission and the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, to keep Black students connected, continue advance research on African American Studies, and provide access to experts in their fields. The Bunche Center will work with the BBRC to conduct exhaustive research on the center as it gets off the ground. Survey data gathered for the on-campus center’s first year will drive a full qualitative and quantitative study. Such research projects will inevitably help the BBRC grow by targeting its services, programming, and funding to the best effect.
Another resource offered by the BBRC is liaison hours; the center will invite people from a wide array of campus entities, and Black alumni in various professional fields to spend up to eight hours each week within its walls. Black students who frequent the center will get to know individuals across campus and become more familiar with the units those liaisons represent. Ultimately, this program will ensure Black Bruins feel comfortable anywhere and everywhere in the greater network that makes up the UCLA community.
AFRIKAN DIASPORA COMMUNITY AT UCLA
The Afrikan Diaspora Community provides students with opportunities to be immersed in Afrikan culture at UCLA and beyond. This community allows students with similar interests to create lifelong friendships, partake in programming and dialogue that is mindful of issues surrounding Afrikan culture, and provide students with opportunities to be involved in the Los Angeles community. “Afrikan” is spelled with a “k” rather than a “c” to symbolize the reunion of Afrikan people worldwide. “Diaspora” refers to any group that has dispersed outside its traditional homeland. To residents of the floor, it is lovingly also referred to as “4North.” All students, regardless of cultural heritage or major, are invited to join in on the rich exploration of Afrikan culture.
AFRIKAN STUDENT UNION
ASU exists to promote, protect, and serve the interest and educational rights of individual and collective needs of the Afrikan student body and community within the context of the struggle for Afrikan liberation. This body is inclusive of all people. Webpage: http://www.blackbruins.org
BLACK GRADUATE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION
The primary purpose of the BGSA shall be to promote a professional, informative, and social network for Black graduate and professional students to ensure their retention and continued academic success at UCLA. In addition, the BGSA serves to make the UCLA community aware of and responsive to the needs and concerns of Black graduate and professional students and advocates for persons of the African Diaspora within the University and the surrounding area. Email: bgsa@ucla.edu
VOLUNTEERS & SPONSORS NEEDED
UCLA Black Bruin Resource Center is looking for volunteers, sponsors, and community partners to assist with establishing the center. Please email Amanda Finzi Smith, Interim Director of Black Bruin Resource Center, at afinzi@orl.ucla.edu.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE UCLA FOUNDATION'S DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS FOR DONORS
Should this fund reach the campus minimum required for the establishment of an endowment or quasi-endowment, The UCLA Foundation reserves the right to convert this fund to an endowment or quasi-endowment. Please click here to learn more about how The UCLA Foundation invests and manages its endowments.
June of 2020 UCLA Announced the establishment of the Black Bruin Resource Center.
Fighting tirelessly for civil rights and integration in professional sports long after his retirement, Jackie Robinson, wearing number 42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, shattered the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Robinson entered UCLA in 1939 and became its first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, track and football. He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 as the first Black player in Major League Baseball. His contributions to equality and the civil rights movement have inspired the world ever since.
Your donation will support the Grad Packet for (Kente stole, Class Shirt, and other graduating gear) provided to graduating seniors.
As a person who leaves a path for others to follow, your gift creates awareness of the need for diversity in higher education and the cost to attend UCLA (tax deductible gift of $500)
Programmatic support and memorabilia swag for the Ega Meni Lenu Dinner event. Students, staff, faculty, and alumni are awarded and recognized for their efforts towards supporting, engaging, and uplifting the Bruin experience at UCLA.
The BBRC will promote fellowship by providing two annual fellowship opportunities for students, alumni, faculty, and staff to gather in one central location.