Historic UCLA Legacy
The African American community has a long and rich association with UCLA dating back to the 1920s when the campus relocated to Westwood. Such notable leaders as Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Ralph Bunche ’27 and Congressman Augustus Hawkins ’31 were among its early pioneers. They were soon followed by many other distinguished African American graduates from what has frequently been called “our University of California.” That is because more than 60 percent of all African Americans in California lived in Los Angeles County throughout much of the 20th century. It is no wonder that the community was distressed when, in the fall of 2006, fewer than 100 African American freshmen – just two percent of the freshman class – chose to enroll at UCLA. With a groundswell response from community leaders, UCLA supporters, UBAA members, alumni and students, the 2006 downturn was reversed when 206 African American freshmen enrolled in 2007. The figures for 2008 demonstrated a continuation of this upward trend, with 235 African American students enrolled, despite the negative economic environment and a lower total enrollment for the freshman class. The reversal of the downward trend can be attributed, in large measure, to the UBAA Legacy Scholarship Campaign. |
Notable Alumni
Jackie Robinson- first black man to play for Major League Baseball; first athlete in UCLA history to letter in four sports in the same year James Lu Valle- Olympic Medalist and Chemist Arthur Ashe- Tennis player, Apartheid and AIDS activist. Ashe became the first African American ever selected to the US Davis Cup Team in 1963 (winners 1968-70). In 1968, he won the men's championships at the inaugural US Open. Florence Griffith Joyner- Olympic Medalist Ralph Bunche- an American political scientist and diplomat who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Palestine. He was the first person of color to be so honored in the history of the Prize. Diane Watson - U.S. Congresswoman Earl Gales, Jr. - Chairman, Earl E. Gales Jr., Jenkins/Gales & Martinez (JGM) Architecture Firm Elaine Brown - Activist, writer, singer and former chairperson of the Black Panther Party Rev. James Lawson - Reverend, activist and former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Gail Wyatt - Associate Director, UCLA AIDS Institute, clinical psychologist and professor Johnnie Cochran - Famed attorney and activist Brenda Ross-Dulan - Senior Vice President and Regional President - Wells Fargo Bank Frank Stephens - Frank Stephens, UCLA Academic Advisor and former UCLA Athlete Gabrielle Union - Actress Chris Spencer - Actor, comedian, writer, director and producer Bridgette M. Taylor - Partner at Dreier, Stein & Kahan, LLP's Entertainment & Media Department Jaleel White - Actor Floyd McKissick - Lawyer, activist and former national director of Congress of Racial Equality Angela Davis - Author, activist, professor and former member of the Black Panther Party |