June 10, 2002
Contact: Teresa Hendrix
(805) 756-7266
Bret Harrison
MESA Director
(805)-756-7139
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cal Poly Names 24 High School Students to First Summer Carver College Program
Twenty-four high school students from some of the most
economically disadvantaged areas in Northern and Southern California have been
awarded scholarships to attend the first Carver College summer session at Cal
Poly.
Thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Cacique Foundation, the charitable
arm of Mexican cheese manufacturer Cacique Inc., all 24 students will
attend the science-based agricultural education program free, staying
in the university dorms and attending classes taught by Cal Poly
professors during their five days on campus.
Cal Poly's Carver College summer program is for high-achieving students
from disadvantaged areas across California who show promise in
technology- and science-based careers in agriculture and ag-related
industries. This first Carver College program will bring nine boys and
15 girls to campus June 23-27, with the largest group coming from
Compton in the Los Angeles basin.
The students have a cumulative high school GPA of 3.69 and were chosen
from among more than 100 who applied through their school MESA
(Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) chapters.
Cal Poly Carver College scholars from Northern California are:
Danitza Alvizar, Emerald Ruth Katz, Peter Katz and Angela Walker of
Soledad; David Garcia and Natasha Ololade Ogunnupe of San Jose;
and
Sergio Gonzalez of Watsonville. Students from Southern California are:
Abraham Gonzalez, Jorge de Lima, Krystal Hernandez, Margarita Landeros,
Emilia Montalvo, Brenda Rojas, Mayra Torres and Pedro Verdugo from
Compton; Florentina Larios and Victor Segura from Fresno; Donald
Bobb
and Tressa Fath from the Native American community at Lone Pine in the
Sierras; and Claudia Estupinan, Selene Cuapio, Andre Earl Phillip,
Melissa Quezon Pizarro and Dorothy Tamayo from San Diego.
The university hopes to expose students to the increasingly complex
science and technology fields in agriculture, said Cal Poly's Dean of
Agriculture David Wehner. "We want to encourage these very bright, very
promising students to pursue an education in agriculture, because the
industry needs them," Wehner said.
It's no surprise that a large segment of the first group of Carver
College students are from the inner-city community of Compton,
explained Carver College Director Bret Harrison, who is also the
director of the university's MESA agricultural outreach initiative.
"Agriculture-related careers and jobs exist throughout California, in
urban areas as well as rural areas. There's a large food-processing
industry in the Los Angeles area that needs skilled and educated
technicians, managers and marketing leaders, and emerging biotechnology
industries concentrated in other California cities. Cacique recognizes
this, and it's one of the reasons they're supporting Cal Poly's Carver
College program," Harrison said.
Giving promising students exposure to and education in the high-tech
side of modern agriculture and its financially rewarding careers is
what Carver College is about, Harrison said. Cal Poly modeled the
program on one at Tuskegee University in Alabama as well as outreach
programs already used by other California college MESA programs.
The summer program is named in honor of pioneering agriculturalist
George Washington Carver. Carver, born a slave in Missouri about 1864,
went on to study botany at what is now Iowa State University and became
the first black faculty member there. He later taught at Tuskegee
Institute in Alabama, doing pioneering research in agriculture that
gave Southern farmers profitable crop alternatives to cotton.
With continuing support from industry, Cal Poly's College of
Agriculture hopes to make Carver College an annual event and expand the
program to include a summer Carver Academy for economically
disadvantaged middle school students.
Cal Poly is among the top schools in the nation in awarding bachelor's
degrees to Hispanic students. "We are proud of that, but we intend to
keep improving, and programs like Carver College are part of our effort
to support and recruit bright students no matter what their economic
background may be," said Agriculture Dean Wehner. "Our graduates from
the College of Agriculture - including minority graduates - are already
in the legislature, in law offices, in biotechnology companies and
research and quality-assurance laboratories. They're helping lead some
of the most remarkable technological changes America has ever
experienced, and we want to help more young people join their ranks."
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