By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Graduation rates at the University of California have increased by 10 points over the last ten years putting the college system on track to achieve its 2030 graduation goals, according to a report on college completion in the state released by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Recent data indicated that the UC system has a graduation rate of 73% for four-year students and a six-year graduation rate of 86%, according to the institution’s data. The system will increase the four-year graduation rate to 76% and the six-year rate to 90% by 2030.

However, students at California State University are lagging behind with a graduation rate of 36% for four-year students and a 62% for six-year graduation rate. The graduation rates for students in the UC system are more than double that of students at CSU. Consequently, it is unlikely that CSU will meet its graduation goal of graduating 40% of four-year students and 70% of six-year students by 2025.

The report revealed that nonprofit institutions have relatively high completion rates compared to a high number of for-profit and private colleges that have lower graduation rates.

Researchers stated that longstanding equity gaps in college completion persist indicating that Black and Latino students graduate at lower rates of 52% and 64% The data is varied in comparison to White and Asian students who graduate at higher rates of 75% and 83%, respectively.

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Nonetheless, the report showed that Black students in the UC system graduated at a rate of 78% in four years, nearly double the graduation number of Black students in the CSU system with a rate of 47 percent.

“Campus and regional disparities are stark,” the report stated regarding the varying graduation rates at the different college locations.

“Despite progress, equity gaps at UC remain nearly as large as they were in 2018. At CSU, gaps have widened over time; however, many campuses have made progress in closing them,” the report stated about the equity gaps in the college systems.

The state has set a goal to achieve a graduation rate of 70% by 2030.

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By Tamara Shiloh

William DeHart Hubbard, born on November 25, 1903, in Cincinnati, Ohio, was a trailblazing figure in American sports history.

Hubbard grew up in Cincinnati. While attending Walnut Hills High School he excelled in academics and athletics. This earned him a scholarship to the University of Michigan in 1921, where he studied in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. In college, he quickly made a name for himself as an exceptional track and field athlete.

Hubbard was the only African American on the school’s track team; he was also the first African American varsity track letterman at the university. In his college career, Hubbard won several meets including being a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion, eight-time Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) champion, and seven-time Big Ten Conference champion in track and field. His 1925 outdoor long jump of 25 feet 10¹⁄₂ inches stood as the Michigan Wolverines team record until 1980, and it is still second. His 1925 jump of 25 feet 3.5 inches stood as a Big Ten Championships record until Jesse Owens broke it in 1935 with what is now the current record of 26 feet 8.25 inches.

In 1924, he was selected to represent the United States at the Paris Summer Olympics.

Competing against some of the best athletes in the world, Hubbard made history by winning the gold medal in the long jump by jumping 24 feet 5.5 inches. This victory made him the first African American to win an individual gold medal in the history of the modern Olympic Games.

In 1925, Hubbard broke the long jump world record with a leap of 25 feet 10⁷⁄₈ inches at the NCAA championships. In 1927, he bettered that with a jump of 26 feet 2.25 inches — which would have been the first ever over 26 feet — but meet officials disallowed it, claiming that the take-off board was an inch higher than the surface of the landing pit. He also competed in the hurdles at the 1926 AAU championships. He graduated with honors in 1927.

He specialized in the long jump, a sport that would soon bring him international fame.

Hubbard’s Olympic success was not just a personal triumph but a milestone for African Americans in sports. His victory challenged the prevailing stereotypes of the time and inspired a generation of Black athletes to pursue their dreams in the face of adversity.

After his Olympic success, he continued to excel in track and field. He set an additional world record in 1925 with a jump of 25 feet 10.75 inches, which stood for several years. His accomplishments were not limited to athletics, as he also became involved in civic and business endeavors after his graduation from the University of Michigan in 1927.

Following his athletic career, Hubbard returned to his hometown of Cincinnati, where he took on various roles serving his community and the progress of African Americans. He worked as a manager for the Department of Colored Work for the Cincinnati Public Recreation Commission and later became a race relations adviser for the Federal Housing Administration.

Hubbard passed away on June 23, 1976. As the first African American to win an individual Gold Medal in the Olympics, he not only paved the way for future generations of athletes but also demonstrated the profound impact that sports can have on societal change.

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By Magaly Muñoz

For over 25 years, an Oakland leadership organization has worked to foster multiracial relationships amongst students, where historically, there has been division.

Youth Together was created by Raquel Jimenez, a Latino history teacher at Castlemont High School, who noticed tension between Black and Latino students. Through a coalition of other Oakland-based organizations, Youth Together was established to provide resources to students and give them skills to build community with other racial groups.

Student members of Youth Together told the Post that the reason they joined the organization was to build skills around social justice and connect with people they otherwise wouldn’t have met.

One student, Oli, said the group helped her to grow confidence in speaking with new people and to learn more about the history of racial issues in Oakland, which she wishes teachers did more of to include in their curriculum.

Lena, another student who attends Skyline High School with Oli, said the groups at school are typically divided by race because “students fall into stereotypes”. She explained that kids would put her in a “stereotypical Asian” persona but once they got to know her, they started treating her differently.

Berlin, a student Youth Together member, shared that he transferred to three different schools because of racial tensions with other students. He said other groups attempted to start problems with him because he didn’t come from the same background as them.

Lena said people would be more open to being friends with other races if they were taught about them more frequently in school.

“It’s really important to understand different ethnicities and their backgrounds and struggles that they’ve went through,” Lena said.

Asian, Latino and Black students make up the biggest racial groups in Oakland Unified School District. Latino students in particular make up over half of the student population with almost 24,000 kids in the 2022-23 school year.

The Youth Together students shared that over the years more white students have started attending their schools and the diversity is no longer what it used to be. They also said the teachers do not reflect the student body diversity.

Oli said although there are student fights at Skyline, she doesn’t feel that they are racially motivated. But she claims that most of the racial tensions actually come from teachers who express negative rhetoric to students during their lessons, especially in history classes.

Through these conversations about race and social justice, the students are better prepared to speak to their peers at an annual event called Unity Day.

Unity Day was hosted at Skyline and Oakland High School at the very beginning of the school year. Kids participated in activities and group discussions about diversity and the ongoing disparities in their education.

The Youth Together team said they looked forward to having these talks with students and to connecting them with others.

Lead organizer Seanna said she wants Unity Day to bring folks together and undo the years of division that Oakland schools have experienced. Her two high school aged brothers, who are also members of Youth Together, have told her that tensions run higher now than they did when she was in high school several years ago.

Seanna wants the cycle of tension and detachment among different racial groups to end, both in school and in the city. She said people felt more united and like a community when she was growing up, but that doesn’t feel like the case anymore.

If Unity Day is what the school and larger community need in order to get along, she hopes the idea continues and expands until things start to come together again.

“It just takes one person to want to keep fighting, to inspire other people to keep fighting, and that’s the domino effect I would love to see. Maybe that change that we all crave for will come,” Seanna said.

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