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| A Magnet for Latino College Students | |
| (30 days later) | |
| By Jennifer Medina | By Jennifer Medina |
| As a student at the University of California, Los Angeles decades ago, Alejandro Degadillo accepted that he would only occasionally see fellow students who looked like him. When he did, there was an unspoken sense of connection, the notion that their brown skin meant they shared not only a language or culture but also a mix of pride and insecurity. | As a student at the University of California, Los Angeles decades ago, Alejandro Degadillo accepted that he would only occasionally see fellow students who looked like him. When he did, there was an unspoken sense of connection, the notion that their brown skin meant they shared not only a language or culture but also a mix of pride and insecurity. |
| “We were reminded every so often that we were part of the elite, and we know the responsibilities we had were not just for ourselves,” Mr. Degadillo said one afternoon this spring while sitting in his office at the University of California, Merced, where he now works as the associate director of the Calvin E. Bright Success Center. “We have to teach our students that burden, that sense that when they go into the workplace, it doesn’t usually look like this.” | “We were reminded every so often that we were part of the elite, and we know the responsibilities we had were not just for ourselves,” Mr. Degadillo said one afternoon this spring while sitting in his office at the University of California, Merced, where he now works as the associate director of the Calvin E. Bright Success Center. “We have to teach our students that burden, that sense that when they go into the workplace, it doesn’t usually look like this.” |
| While the majority of high school students in California are Latino, the same is true at just one campus in the University of California system: Merced. More than two-thirds of the students at Merced are the first in their family to attend college. And many come from cities and towns that are overwhelmingly Latino. So it has often struck Mr. Degadillo that these students have no idea just how rare a campus like Merced is. There are just two dozen public colleges in the country where Latinos are the majority. | While the majority of high school students in California are Latino, the same is true at just one campus in the University of California system: Merced. More than two-thirds of the students at Merced are the first in their family to attend college. And many come from cities and towns that are overwhelmingly Latino. So it has often struck Mr. Degadillo that these students have no idea just how rare a campus like Merced is. There are just two dozen public colleges in the country where Latinos are the majority. |
| When I spent time at Merced this year, I tried to understand how its demographics shape the campus experience. In dozens of conversations, it was clear that many of the students hardly saw the demographics as remarkable. They struggled to articulate what might be different at a campus like Merced, particularly compared with other elite colleges, where Latinos often make up less than 20 percent of all students. | When I spent time at Merced this year, I tried to understand how its demographics shape the campus experience. In dozens of conversations, it was clear that many of the students hardly saw the demographics as remarkable. They struggled to articulate what might be different at a campus like Merced, particularly compared with other elite colleges, where Latinos often make up less than 20 percent of all students. |
| “They are the majority, and they don’t initially realize how special that is,” said Mr. Degadillo, who also worked for years at University of California, Santa Cruz, where he regularly spoke to students who missed the kinds of food and music they took for granted at home. “It was significant; you felt like there was something missing. Students were always looking for someone who could relate to their story. When you don’t have to look for a cultural identity, you can kind of take it for granted.” | “They are the majority, and they don’t initially realize how special that is,” said Mr. Degadillo, who also worked for years at University of California, Santa Cruz, where he regularly spoke to students who missed the kinds of food and music they took for granted at home. “It was significant; you felt like there was something missing. Students were always looking for someone who could relate to their story. When you don’t have to look for a cultural identity, you can kind of take it for granted.” |
| The impact of the campus on the state remains unclear: Will Merced push more Latinos through the prestigious University of California system or further marginalize Latino students? | The impact of the campus on the state remains unclear: Will Merced push more Latinos through the prestigious University of California system or further marginalize Latino students? |
| Read my article for more about why Merced has become a magnet for Latino students and how its demographics have shaped the campus. | Read my article for more about why Merced has become a magnet for Latino students and how its demographics have shaped the campus. |
| Then tell us what your college experience was like. Did you look to people who shared your ethnic background for support? Would you prefer to be part of the dominant demographic group on campus? | Then tell us what your college experience was like. Did you look to people who shared your ethnic background for support? Would you prefer to be part of the dominant demographic group on campus? |
| Email me at jennifer.medina@nytimes.com. I might contact you to hear more about your story. | Email me at jennifer.medina@nytimes.com. I might contact you to hear more about your story. |
| Jennifer Medina is a national correspondent based in Los Angeles. | Jennifer Medina is a national correspondent based in Los Angeles. |
| By Farah Stockman | By Farah Stockman |
| CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — In the days following the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville last summer, angry residents took over a City Council meeting, screaming and weeping into the microphone. They blamed leaders for failing to stop hordes toting guns, swastikas and Confederate flags from descending on the city. | CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — In the days following the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville last summer, angry residents took over a City Council meeting, screaming and weeping into the microphone. They blamed leaders for failing to stop hordes toting guns, swastikas and Confederate flags from descending on the city. |
| “Why did you think that you could walk in here and do business as usual after what happened?” Nikuyah Walker, one of the activists there that day, bluntly asked the sitting mayor. | “Why did you think that you could walk in here and do business as usual after what happened?” Nikuyah Walker, one of the activists there that day, bluntly asked the sitting mayor. |
| Today, in a sign of how much has changed since white nationalists rallied here and shocked the nation, Ms. Walker is mayor herself, the city’s first black woman to serve in that role. | Today, in a sign of how much has changed since white nationalists rallied here and shocked the nation, Ms. Walker is mayor herself, the city’s first black woman to serve in that role. |
| Since the rally, nearly every official who held power at the time has resigned or retired. The city attorney, who concluded that there was no legal way to stop the rally, took a job in another town. The police chief stepped down in the wake of a critical report accusing him of failing to protect the public on the day of the rally. The city manager, who oversaw the city’s response, will leave by the end of this year. | Since the rally, nearly every official who held power at the time has resigned or retired. The city attorney, who concluded that there was no legal way to stop the rally, took a job in another town. The police chief stepped down in the wake of a critical report accusing him of failing to protect the public on the day of the rally. The city manager, who oversaw the city’s response, will leave by the end of this year. |
| Instead of uniting the right, the rally’s purported goal, it empowered a leftist political coalition that vows to confront generations of racial and economic injustice. But despite the dramatic overhaul of the city’s leadership, wholesale change has been slow to take hold. | Instead of uniting the right, the rally’s purported goal, it empowered a leftist political coalition that vows to confront generations of racial and economic injustice. But despite the dramatic overhaul of the city’s leadership, wholesale change has been slow to take hold. |
| The bronze Confederate generals that ignited the rally still sit on horseback in public parks. Activists still demand their removal. A judge still forbids it. | The bronze Confederate generals that ignited the rally still sit on horseback in public parks. Activists still demand their removal. A judge still forbids it. |
| The local man who planned the rally still walks around town, scuffling with people who scream “murderer” when they see him. | The local man who planned the rally still walks around town, scuffling with people who scream “murderer” when they see him. |
| Nearly a year after the rally, which featured beatings, brawls and a car that plowed into a crowd of anti-racism counterprotesters, killing one and injuring more than two dozen others, this picturesque city of 48,000 people is still engaged in a tug of war over its soul. | Nearly a year after the rally, which featured beatings, brawls and a car that plowed into a crowd of anti-racism counterprotesters, killing one and injuring more than two dozen others, this picturesque city of 48,000 people is still engaged in a tug of war over its soul. |
| The most nettlesome divide, it turns out, is not between the far-left and the alt-right, whose members battled in the streets on Aug. 12. It’s between those who want Charlottesville to go back to the way it was before the rally, when a Google search brought up “happiest city in America” or “best food in small town America,” and those like Ms. Walker who say that the city must make sweeping changes to address deep-seated racial and economic disparities. | The most nettlesome divide, it turns out, is not between the far-left and the alt-right, whose members battled in the streets on Aug. 12. It’s between those who want Charlottesville to go back to the way it was before the rally, when a Google search brought up “happiest city in America” or “best food in small town America,” and those like Ms. Walker who say that the city must make sweeping changes to address deep-seated racial and economic disparities. |
| [Read More] | [Read More] |
| Farah Stockman is a national correspondent based in Boston. | Farah Stockman is a national correspondent based in Boston. |
| Here are some of the stories that we’re talking about, beyond The Times. | Here are some of the stories that we’re talking about, beyond The Times. |
| ‘My wife can never call my name in public’ [BBC News] | ‘My wife can never call my name in public’ [BBC News] |
| Henry Taylor’s Wild Heart Can’t Be Broken [Vulture] | Henry Taylor’s Wild Heart Can’t Be Broken [Vulture] |
| Donald Trump Asked, “What Do You Have to Lose?” This Illinois Town Found Out. [Mother Jones] | Donald Trump Asked, “What Do You Have to Lose?” This Illinois Town Found Out. [Mother Jones] |
| We publish many articles that touch on race. Here are a few you shouldn’t miss. | We publish many articles that touch on race. Here are a few you shouldn’t miss. |
| I Know What Incarceration Does to Families. It Happened to Mine. | I Know What Incarceration Does to Families. It Happened to Mine. |
| In 1942, my mother, her parents and her sister were sent to an internment camp by the U.S. government. I worry that history is repeating itself. | In 1942, my mother, her parents and her sister were sent to an internment camp by the U.S. government. I worry that history is repeating itself. |
| The Districts Are Mostly White. The Candidates Are Not. | The Districts Are Mostly White. The Candidates Are Not. |
| There are only a few Democratic candidates of color in majority-white districts. Some activists say the party isn’t trying hard enough. | There are only a few Democratic candidates of color in majority-white districts. Some activists say the party isn’t trying hard enough. |
| A Museum Promotes Indigenous Art. But Don’t Call It ‘Indian.’ | A Museum Promotes Indigenous Art. But Don’t Call It ‘Indian.’ |
| Will a debate over terminology at the Art Gallery of Ontario help the progress of artists who are underrepresented in United States museums? | Will a debate over terminology at the Art Gallery of Ontario help the progress of artists who are underrepresented in United States museums? |
| 30-Foot Painting of the K.K.K. Puts a Museum to the Test | 30-Foot Painting of the K.K.K. Puts a Museum to the Test |
| The Blanton Museum of Art in Texas is wrestling with how to present Vincent Valdez’s panorama of a modern-day Ku Klux Klan gathering. | The Blanton Museum of Art in Texas is wrestling with how to present Vincent Valdez’s panorama of a modern-day Ku Klux Klan gathering. |
| How James Brown Made Black Pride a Hit | How James Brown Made Black Pride a Hit |
| It’s been 50 years since he wrote “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud,” a song that is still necessary. | It’s been 50 years since he wrote “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud,” a song that is still necessary. |
| Comics of Asian Descent, Tired of Being Invisible, Put Themselves Onstage | Comics of Asian Descent, Tired of Being Invisible, Put Themselves Onstage |
| Despite regularly selling out U.C.B. theaters, the series founder says success would mean such a diverse comedy scene that the show wasn’t needed. | Despite regularly selling out U.C.B. theaters, the series founder says success would mean such a diverse comedy scene that the show wasn’t needed. |
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