On Nov. 18, the Community Engagement and Outreach (CEO) Unit welcomed more than 100 California high school and community college students, counselors, and educators affiliated with the Umoja program to Virtual Umoja Day. The afternoon of online programming featured presentations from UC Riverside campus leaders, panel discussions, and virtual tabling sessions, all designed to introduce prospective students to the resources available at UCR and connect them with the campus community.

Umoja is dedicated to enhancing the cultural and educational experiences of African Americans and other students, providing community college and high school students with the knowledge, tools, and support needed to increase their academic success. UCR is the first University of California campus to have an Umoja chapter. Through Umoja, UCR provides a range of programs to currently enrolled transfer students, community college students planning to transfer to UCR, and high school students planning to attend UCR.

The CEO unit has hosted events for Umoja students on campus in the past. This year, though, the unit had to present Umoja Day virtually and used the Hopin platform, which gave attendees the ability to select which presentations they wanted to attend and which campus groups they wanted to interact with, just like they would be able to at an in-person event.

UCR will be taking part in statewide Umoja events throughout the academic year, including the Virtual Student Leadership Summit on Feb. 24. Students and educators can connect with the CEO Unit and Umoja at UCR peer mentors by emailing rcommunity@ucr.edu to learn more about applying to UCR, campus resources, and upcoming Umoja at UCR events.