On March 5^th and 6^th of this month, the UC Irvine Graduate Division welcomed prospective graduate students from Georgia’s prestigious Morehouse and Spelman Colleges to the UCI Campus. Forty-one prospective students along with faculty and administrators participated in lectures, workshops and one- on-one opportunities to ask questions, meet UCI faculty and interact with current UCI graduate students.

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Thomas Parham, welcomed the Morehouse and Spelman guests to UCI during a Reception and Dinner on the evening of March 5^th.  Held in the Student Center’s Pacific Ballroom, the event featured faculty from UCI graduate programs along with senior UCI Administrators and several graduate students. Dr. Parham shared his insights into the importance of education and what makes UCI a recognized leader in world-class research and scholarship. 

March 6th was a full day for the Morehouse and Spelman students and faculty. The students broke into groups based on interest and were given a first-hand look into the laboratories of various schools and departments: Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, School of Biological Sciences/Medicine, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering and the facilities of UCI’s Public Health program.  

Gregory Washington, Dean of UCI’s The Henry Samueli School of Engineering spoke to the importance of education – especially as it relates to graduate education and the 21^st century.  Dean Washington addressed the role of technological advance in helping to make a positive global impact on society at large. He stressed the critical importance of being engaged in a process of discovery and the importance of educating students to be the best engineers and leaders. One of the many proof points that resonated with those in the audience was the fact that science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students, especially those with advanced degrees, continue to be very employable. “Given the job environment today, engineers – from software to mechanical to electrical just to name a few - can consider themselves quite lucky, as their unemployment rates have been as low as 2.0% in recent years,” he noted.   Dean Washington closed his presentation with an analogy. “It’s about seed, time and harvesting,” he stated.  “We can hardly do better than to see life – and by extension the importance of education- as a process of sowing seeds and reaping a harvest.”

Students were also given the opportunity to meet UCI’s Chancellor Michael Drake who relayed his personal connections to Morehouse and what he believes makes UCI a great choice for graduate education. “UCI is an interactive, vibrant and collaborative campus where there is a healthy exchange of ideas between faculty and students,” he stated. Using the example of his own life path Chancellor Drake emphasized the university’s values of respect, intellectual curiosity, integrity, commitment, empathy, appreciation and fun. “We are a young campus with an amazing ability to create new pathways - pathways that allow you as graduate students to make your own mark.”

Following are photos from the two day visit.