New Director Frames Vision

The African American Student Development office won't reopen its doors for another two weeks, but the office's new director, S. Nzingha Dugas, has been at UC Berkeley for more than a decade preparing for its opening.

Dugas says she will use her nearly thirteen years of experience on campus to create original ways to help alleviate the division between different racial groups she has observed for years.

"I'm not about building something new just to create something new-we've got to take the resources we have and make it into something colorful and powerful," Dugas said. "The goal is to find mechanisms to support students, and create leadership opportunities, because everybody can be a leader."

Dugas, who spent nearly 13 years working with the Graduate Assembly in student affairs, is shifting her attention to the black student community, where she will work to enhance its academic success and address specific student needs, such as fostering a more inclusive atmosphere on campus.

Dugas' hiring has been met with a warm welcome: The position had been empty for more than a year, which essentially meant halted operations in the office.

"She brings experience and a great perspective," said Lisa Walker, coordinator for Cross-Cultural Student Development. "She has a wonderful relationship with the students."

Her timely arrival comes as the shrinking black community on campus has been put in the spotlight. Black enrollment has taken a nosedive since the ban on affirmative action, which took effect in 1998.

The first year after the ban, UC Berkeley enrolled 122 black freshmen, down from 252 in 1997. This fall, 109 black freshmen enrolled.

Despite the outcry over the figures, Dugas says the numbers are nothing new.

"What is so alarming is, what I heard 20 years ago is the same thing we're hearing now," Dugas says. "Berkeley's tradition in history celebrates all diversity, but they haven't been able to experience that because they don't have a critical mass."

Dugas says black students, who find themselves outnumbered on campus, often feel pressured to be spokesmen for all black people, a task that can be overwhelming.

"The environment they're speaking of is, ‘I'm the only one in the classroom and I'm a target. So I have to be spokesperson for everything that's going on-I have to represent all black people,'" Dugas says.

This burden is heightened by the sense of isolation that stems from missing out on contact with students of similar backgrounds and experiences, she says.

But it is the classroom that proves to be black students' toughest arena, Dugas says, adding that students often feel paralyzed by doubt from both peers and teachers.

"Students were saying to survive you've got to be in a study group-it's like a Charlie Brown thing where nobody would pick them," she says.

She points to the many times she's heard of professors questioning the legitimacy of black students' research as an example of the shadow of doubt that can follow black students.

When professors falsely insinuate that black students have plagiarized their assignments, it undermines their academic self-esteem, Dugas says.

"It makes them think, ‘I'm not qualified to be here,'" she says.

Despite the obstacles for black students, Dugas says she has a game plan to build a supportive community on campus.

"We're going to start off just listening-talking to students, asking them what they want this office to do for them," she says.

To that end, Dugas says she plans to provide avenues of communication from both the student and faculty perspectives.

A retreat for black students is already in the works, she says.

Dugas says she will also form a student community team to gauge the needs of the black students on campus and measure the success of the office's programs.

"We want people to feel comfortable, to ensure students have the opportunity to interface with other diverse groups and build a community," she says.

Dugas says she intends on tracking every student from enrollment to graduation, ensuring that students are provided all the necessary resources to graduate, including services like financial aid and the Student Learning Center.

Graduating into the real world is the true success story, she says.

"We'll have those students come back and share those success stories," she says. "They've got to pass the baton."

Although Dugas will not officially open her office for another two weeks, many students have already stopped by.

She says once the office is open and she officially outlines her goals and vision for the office, she hopes students and faculty will bring their experiences and critiques to her so she can openly improve the office.

"If we put our minds together we have the ability to solve the issues," Dugas said. "This is an open university and that's the beauty of it."

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