UC Davis Today
A world-class education is within your reach, UC Davis’ Ralph Hexter tells students at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento.
The visit of the provost and executive vice chancellor is part of “Achieve UC.”
The UC effort sends leaders from 10 campuses to schools in low-income communities with lower-than-average rates of attending college.
The mission: to inspire students to see themselves as college material and give them the information they need to get there.
Hexter and other UC Davis representatives first meet with about 15 students in the library.
The guests talk about the need to work hard to get into UC Davis, the demands of university studies and college fun like student clubs.
Afterward, students gather around Hexter and Lora Jo Bossio of Student Affairs to ask more questions.
Mai Moua Vang, left, and Shannel Williamson, center, share their experiences as current UC Davis students.
As 700 students enter the auditorium for a later presentation, Mai Moua Vang hands out information about university admissions.
“If you work hard and do your part as a student, we will have a place for you at UC and make it affordable,” Hexter promises the students.
Earlier, Assistant Principal Mai Xi Lee offers encouragement: Four out of five Luther Burbank students who applied to a UC campus last year were admitted.
The UC Davis visit falls during a college and career fair at the school.
Michele Dyke, left, director of the Early Academic Outreach Program at UC Davis, and Hexter greet students at the UC Davis table.
UC Davis serves about 25,000 students and 44 schools in 11 counties through UC-sponsored college preparation programs.
Dare to dream a UC path
Video by Joe Proudman/UC Davis
UC: Helping achieve the college dream
If high school students work hard and dream big, a UC education is attainable — no matter what obstacles they face.
“UC Davis is a place where you can benefit from truly exceptional intellectual resources — our faculty, students, library, laboratories and other facilities — that can give you excellent preparation for a career or graduate study,” said Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter during a recent rally for 700 Luther Burbank High School students.
“UC Davis and the other UC campuses can offer you immense career and life benefits,” he added.
The visit was part of Achieve UC, a new UC-wide effort to bring campus leaders and others into high schools in low-income communities with lower-than-average rates of attending college.
With a systemwide goal of visiting more than 10,000 students, UC hopes to inspire students to aim for college and to arm them with valuable information on topics like admissions and financial aid. The message is clear: if students study hard, apply themselves, take the SAT and the courses they need to qualify, then there’s a place for them in the university system.
Joining Hexter was Sue Vang, an aide to state Sen. Loni Hancock and a 2003 Luther Burbank graduate, who spoke about her personal struggles and how a UC education has enriched her life.
Achieve UC builds on other efforts that UC Davis has in area high schools — such as the Early Academic Outreach Program — to help put students on a path to college.
Students at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento learn about the path to college. Gregory Urquiaga of UC Davis took all of the photos in the slideshow.
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