Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Jessica Larkin Sac State President Alexander Gonzalez speaks before a black church on Sunday as part of outreach effort. Below, the choir sings at the service. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Jessica Larkin [Click to enlarge]

Sacramento State wants our campus to be your student's campus, President Alexander Gonzalez told parishioners at the morning service at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday.

Gonzalez spoke to approximately 1,000 members of the congregation in attendance at the black church in Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood as part of the California State University Super Sunday event.

As part of the university's Strategic Plan, Sac State wants to not only recruit prospective students, but also retain black students by providing a support system of cultural identity and peer support on the campus.

There are five key tasks prospective students and their families should complete in preparing to enroll in the CSU system: visit and talk to Sac State representatives following the morning's service at the booth set up by the university in the church's conference room; make sure students are taking the necessary courses in high school required for admittance to the CSU system; visit the CSU Web site; learn about available financial aid programs; begin taking college assessment tests, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), prior to their senior year in high school; and visit the Sac State campus, Gonzalez said.

Congregation members who are Sac State alumni should serve as examples and ambassadors of the university for prospective students in the community, Gonzalez said.

Sac State alumna and church member Melinda McClain said she is willing to serve as an example for young parishioners interested in attending Sac State.

This is the third year Gonzalez participated in the CSU Super Sunday event, which began in 2006, and the second time he spoke at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church. During the first year of the event, Gonzalez spoke at a church in Oakland.

CSU Super Sunday is an outreach program that was developed by CSU Chancellor Charles Reed to connect with black churches. The chancellor, representatives from his office, members of the CSU Board of Trustees and presidents from the 23 CSU campuses speak during services at black churches throughout California on one Sunday during the month of February.

This year, CSU representatives spoke at 30 churches with approximately 80,000 church members total, said Dr. Mohammad Qayoumi, president of East Bay State.

Historically, black colleges like Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., have targeted black churches. Now, the CSU system is following that strategy, Gonzalez said.

The impetus for the CSU system to reach out to black churches came from the black community itself, said Kenneth Monteiro, dean of the San Francisco State College of Ethnic Studies. The community said such churches are a huge resource that the CSU system has not touched, he said.

The CSU chancellor's office also meets with representatives from black churches on a quarterly basis, Qayoumi said.

Church member Jerry Springer Jr., who visited the Sac State booth with his children following the service, said the event is a great outreach opportunity that shows the university is concerned with increasing black enrollment. The effort shows the community that the CSU system sees the need for a diverse student population in order to provide a well-rounded education for students.

Events like CSU Super Sunday are indispensable, said St. Paul's Church member Judy Miller. As a school psychologist for the Sacramento City Unified School District, she often talks to students who want to go to college, but have no practical plans for doing so.
Most importantly, these types of events show young church members that the CSU system cares about them and a college education is within their reach, Miller said.

Parishioner Kimberly Ashcroft said it is good for schools like Sac State to come talk to students within their community support network. It makes the whole process of enrolling in school less intimidating.

Twins Taylor and Tyler McClure, ninth-graders at Rosemont High School, agreed with Ashcroft.

Taylor McClure said when they visited the Sac State campus, it was intimidating because it seems big and confusing.

"It makes me feel special to have the Sac State president come to my church and my area to talk to me about my future," she said.

The McClure siblings said they plan to attend Sac State after high school.

Sac State does not limit its outreach program to black churches to the CSU Super Sunday event, said Sac State Vice President of Student Affairs Lori Varlotta. In the past year, Gonzalez visited three Sacramento-area black churches, including Antioch Progressive Church and Christian Family Life Worship Center, in addition to CSU Super Sunday.

Outreach to underrepresented communities has long been a part of the university's recruitment process, Varlotta said. She said the university hit churches heavily in the last 2 and a half years.

Gonzalez also spoke at Latino churches as part of Sac State's recruitment effort.

The next step in the process is to develop more specific recruitment and student retention programs with Sacramento-area black churches, Gonzalez said.

Developing partnerships between the university and churches will have a positive effect on Sacramento and California as a whole, he said.

Greg Lawson, church deacon and chairman of the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church Social Action Committee, said he would like to work with Sac State in developing those programs within the church.

Lawson, who helped to coordinate Gonzalez's visit to the church, thanked Gonzalez during the service for a $500 scholarship donation from Sac State to the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church Scholarship Fund.

Black enrollment increased by 6.5 percent in the fall of 2007 across the CSU campuses, according to a press release from the CSU chancellor's office.

Gonzalez said he hopes events like CSU Super Sunday played a part in the enrollment increase.

Todd Wilson can be reached at twilson@statehornet.com

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