Former Congressman Louis Stokes visits UTSA to discuss diversity, accessibility

By Christi Fish
Public Affairs Specialist

(Oct. 9, 2009)—Former U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes (D-Ohio) met with UTSA students, faculty and administrators at the Main Campus Oct. 6-8 to discover first-hand the impact his National Science Foundation Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program has made on underrepresented minorities in South Texas.

Adopted by the University of Texas System in 1993, LSAMP offers summer research positions that include stipends and mentoring to increase the number of underrepresented minorities pursuing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and careers.

“Congressman Stokes has worked tirelessly throughout his career to make STEM education accessible to ethnic minorities and other diverse populations with similar challenges,” said George Perry, dean of the UTSA College of Sciences. “The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation gives many students nationwide the opportunity to pursue higher education despite having limited resources. It is an especially important program for UTSA, an Hispanic-serving institution where many of our students are the first in their families to attend college.”

During his three-day visit, Stokes met with UTSA administrators and faculty to discuss novel strategies to make education accessible to ethnic minorities and other underrepresented student groups. Additionally, he met with a group of science, engineering and education faculty members to learn about programs at UTSA that encourage minorities to pursue STEM education. These programs include the Pre-freshman Engineering Program (PREP), GE2MS (formerly known as UTeach), the Minority Biomedical Research Group (MBRS) family of programs and the Research Center in Minority Institutions program, among others.

Stokes also heard research presentations by UTSA LSAMP scholars. Undergraduate Carla Groshel said the LSAMP program was “instrumental” in her decision to pursue graduate school and a research career. “I considered it an honor to present my research to Congressman Stokes,” said Groshel. “I hoped that I could successfully show him that the effort he put forth to get funding for underrepresented students in STEM fields was put to good use.”

A Cleveland native, Stokes rose from poverty to become one of the most prominent civil rights attorneys in Cleveland, going on to argue and win a case in the Supreme Court. In 1967, his younger brother Carl was elected mayor of Cleveland, making him the first African-American mayor of a major American city. Two years later, Louis was elected to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

A congressman from 1969-1999, Stokes was the first African-American to represent Ohio. While in Congress, he was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and served and chaired numerous committees including the Education and Labor Committee and the International Security Committee. He also was the first African-American to sit on the House Appropriations Committee. Today, he remains an advocate of diversity and accessibility in higher education.