Bruin alums - Baron Davis and Brandon Ayanbadejo - have started a new project. Here is Adande from the LA Times today:
Ayanbadejo and former UCLA basketball star Baron Davis have formed We Should Not Be the Only Ones (weshouldnotbetheonlyones.org) a group whose name refers to the increasing indication that the only black students UCLA appears to want are those with exceptional vertical leaps or 40-yard dash times.
The numbers demand words. Loud words, angry words. For the fall 2006 freshman class, less than 100 African Americans enrolled, the fewest in more than 30 years. Twenty of them were on athletic scholarship, which means we're getting dangerously close to making a fact from the stereotypical assumption that a black student on campus is an athlete. A ranking of African American student admissions in the fall of 2005 put UCLA 29th among the top 30 colleges and universities.
Here is the link and the screenshot of the homepage of weshouldnotbetheonlyones.org:The numbers demand words. Loud words, angry words. For the fall 2006 freshman class, less than 100 African Americans enrolled, the fewest in more than 30 years. Twenty of them were on athletic scholarship, which means we're getting dangerously close to making a fact from the stereotypical assumption that a black student on campus is an athlete. A ranking of African American student admissions in the fall of 2005 put UCLA 29th among the top 30 colleges and universities.
There is one thing that still burns in my heart when I think of Ayanbadejo. From the same Adande article linked above:
In December 1998, Ayanbadejo was a senior linebacker at UCLA and the undefeated Bruins had one game against the University of Miami standing between them and a trip to the Fiesta Bowl "national championship" game. Ayanbadejo and some teammates wanted to use the high-profile game to call attention to the diminished number of under-represented minorities at UCLA after the implementation of the anti-affirmative action Proposition 209.
Adande was referring to black arm bands Ayanbadejo and lot of his team-mates wore that game. Again I think lot of you may know what side of the political spectrum I fall in. Yet I am not sure whether the Miami game was the proper venue for Ayanbadejo and his team-mates to express their frustrations. It tore up that team, destroyed it's chemistry, and eventually lead to the implosion of a program, which is still trying to recover today.In any event I do think the project undertaken by Ayanbadejo and Davis is pretty interesting. In today’s world of spoiled athletes who only care about their own self interests or are preoccupied with how to get on Sports Center through showboating - high light dunks or cute prancing around the end zone - it is refreshing to see former Bruin stars getting involved in issues that transcends beyond the world of sports. At the very least I like the fact they are plugged in to issues concerning our alma mater. Good for them.
This is a very difficult issue. I wanted to bring it up here because it involves two former Bruins I have a lot of respect for. I'd imagine there are arguments, thoughts involving all angles to this issue, and I urge while you share your pov on it you remain respectful to your fellow Bruin in the comment thread.
GO BRUINS.