Seattle Central joins Umoja to better support Black students
Seattle Central College has joined Umoja, an association of California community and technical colleges committed to the academic success and development of Black and African American students.
Umoja is a Kiswahili word meaning unity. Umoja promotes student success for all students through a curriculum that is responsive to the legacy of the African and African American diasporas. Umoja scholars at each college form cohorts, studying and supporting each other as they participate in classes designed specifically for their experience.
Our college was accepted into the Umoja Affiliate program on May 5 after an extensive review of our application. Seattle Central joins more than 60 Umoja programs at community and technical colleges in California, and Highline College in Washington state.
Seattle Central was accepted as an affiliate because of our focus on and explicit efforts to improve the persistence and completion of Black and African American students. These include Title III activities such as a new first-year college skills course tailored to Black/African American students, including the Springboard8 pilot program to support Black/African American men; Fellas Fridays mentoring group for Black males; and our existing transfer agreements with Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
As part of our Umoja membership, Seattle Central will establish an Umoja advisory committee, design a First-Year experience tailored to the Umoja student participants based on Umoja principles, and establish a student peer-to-peer mentoring program.
Currently, 14% of our enrolled student population identifies as Black/African American. Of those students, 41% identify as male and up to 59% identify as female.
For more information on Umoja, visit https://umojacommunity.org/