BRIDGE - PILIPINO/A OUTREACH & RETENTION
Announments
Volunteer/Intership applications are NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE!!! http://tinyurl.com/bridgeVIP
*Applications are DUE by October 9th!
BRIDGE HISTORY
BRIDGE was created in 1987 because of the steadily decreasing number of Pilipin@s pursuing higher education on a yearly basis. We began as a student-run, Pilipin@-targeted education service under UC Davis’ Mga Kapatid. However, in 1997 it broke off from MK and became its own separate student organization in order to pursue more services. In 1999, the Pilipin@ community became an influential part of the original Recruitment and Retention Organizing Committee (RROC). We joined with the Chican@/Latin@, African/African-American, American Indian, and Southeast Asian communities to form a student-initiated and student-run center. In 2000, the Student Recruitment and Retention Center (SRRC) was formed.
According to UC Davis Facts (http://www.facts.ucdavis.edu), there are only 966 Pilipin@ and Pilipin@-American identified students on campus out of 25,096 – that is, Pilipin@s make up only 3.8% of the UC Davis population. However, Pilipin@s are the second largest Asian-American subgroup in California. The huge disparity in the numbers indicates that Pilipin@s are highly underrepresented in higher education, and are an underserved community. In response to the eradication of affirmative action (Prop 209), our services try to equalize these numbers and create a more diverse community on campus and in the greater Bay Area.
We realize that there are many factors that contribute to the success or failure within the educational system. These factors are unique to the Pilipin@ community, which include: early preparation or lack thereof, family support, feelings of isolation, pressures to pursue particular fields of study, lack of cultural validation, and numerous others. The Pilipin@ culture is very complex, and education is intertwined with our daily experiences.
Our goal is to help empower students to transform this educational system and validate the complexity of the Pilipin@ culture through our services, which include:
- Outreaching to high school students to provide resources and mentorship in order to encourage them to pursue higher education
- Providing academic and personal resources to students already in higher education towards the goal of graduation
- Promoting cultural and community awareness, including LGBTQIA support and women empowerment
- Increasing the recruitment and retention rate of Pilipin@ students at all levels of education
- Striving for social justice and educational equity
Bridge STAFF
Krissy Ocampo, Student Director, RROC Representative
E-mail: klocampo@ucdavis.eduGrace Santuya, Administrative Director
E-mail: gasantuya@ucdavis.eduDale Maglalang, Retention Coordinator
E-mail: dmaglalang@ucdavis.eduMelissa Gutierrez Poquiz, High School Outreach Coordinator
E-mail: mspoquiz@ucdavis.eduValerie Gutierrez Poquiz, Community Mentorship Outreach Coordinator
E-mail: valpoquiz@ucdavis.eduAlex Deng, Retention - Gender and Sexuality Coordinator
E-mail: azdeng@ucdavis.edu