by April | Education, Mentoring
CSUMentor is a website designed to help students and their families learn about the California State University (CSU) system. The CSU is comprised of 23 excellent campuses.
FRESHMAN ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS OVERVIEW
FRESHMAN ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS
It is easy to understand the CSU admission requirements for California residents. Admission offices at the 23 campuses use three factors to determine eligibility.
Most applicants who are admitted meet the standards in each of the following areas:
Many CSU campuses have higher standards for particular majors or for students who live outside the local admission area. Because of the number of students who apply, several campuses have higher standards (supplementary admission criteria) for all applicants. Many CSU campuses utilize local admission guarantee policies for students who graduate or transfer from high schools and community colleges that are historically served by a CSU campus in that region. You may review the CSU Local Admission Areas for each campus here.
FRESHMAN ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE NOT RESIDENTS OF CALIFORNIA
The three factors used to determine the admissibility of nonresident students are the same as those for California residents.
The primary difference is that the eligibility index (a combination of grades and test scores) is somewhat higher. Nonresident students need to complete the same pattern of courses, but need a higher GPA and test score combination. See the Eligibility Index for Nonresidents for more details.
Please note that California residents receive priority whenever admission space is limited.
REGULARLY UPDATING A STUDENTS ACCOUNT ENSURES SUCCESS!
By regularly updating our student’s database we ensure that our young men stay focused on academic excellence. The ongoing attention to completing their academic goals help our students keep their eyes on the prize! Thus far, the result is an overall 100% acceptance to four year universities including CSU’s, UC’s and HBCU’s.

by April | Education, Personal Growth
May 26th, 2016 – Invited by Prince Habib our young men had the opportunity to volunteer and view Hidden Colors 4. Hidden Colors is a documentary series about the cultural history of African Americans, identity and race in America — recently released the trailer for it’s third installment, “The Rules Of Racism.” And it looks good. The project features various speakers from scholars to entertainment vets like Nas, KRS-ONE, and Paul Mooney who begs the question: “whites have always done whatever they wanted to black people, so what are the rules?”
The series’ director and producer Tariq “Elite” Nasheed — a New York Times bestselling author, public speaker, and radio host — is widely known for his social commentary. In the trailer he briefly alludes to a certain motivation in approaching the topic of racism, “there’s never been a real dialogue in America about race because every time we talk about race the conversation then turns into ‘what’s wrong with black people.’:
Traveling around the country, the film features scholars, historians, and social commentators who uncovered such amazing facts about things such as: The original image of Christ; The true story about the Moors; The original people of Asia; The great west African empires; The presence of Africans in America before Columbus; The real reason slavery was ended And much more.
What is exceptional about this series is that there are solution based conversations at the end of each film. While the series is meant to help one understand how we got here as well as understand the psychosis of systematic oppression. We are responsible for turning things around, we are living in a hostile society and environment and must stop believing that the oppressor will ever understand the dilemma of people of color. Thus, we must stand together and unite as opposed to look to curry favor from the supremacist.
Each film has had a prevailing theme with first one we really focused on history, history that is untold. We talked about the Moors in Spain and in Europe. We talked about the African presence in America before Columbus. So we focused on a lot of hidden history.
In the second “Hidden Colors” was focused on scientific racism. We talked about things like Henrietta Lacks, a woman whose stem cells were used for medical experiments. We talked about medical warfare, talked about the prison-industrial complex. And talked about racism from a political-scientific standpoint. For part three, it talked a lot about racism in America and the rules of racism, things that black people are told to do in order to fit in with dominant society and how each rule contradicts the next.
Hidden Colors 4: The Religion Of White Supremacy is the latest follow up film to the critically acclaimed hit documentary series Hidden Colors. In this installment of the Hidden Colors series, the film explores topics such as: The motivation behind European global subjugation The history of rarely discussed vast West African empires How germ warfare is used on melanated people The history of slave breeding farms in America and much more.

by April | Education, Mentoring
April 30th, 2016 – To often in today’s society the focus is on athletic prowess or celebrity; not so much on focusing on the growth of the youth and celebrating their academic accomplishments. In this vein The Blue Heart Foundation held its 2nd President volunteer award and Signing Day Celebration. The purpose of this dinner is to acknowledge the dedication and drive of the members of the Blue Heart Foundation’s mentoring program HEART (Higher Education And Rising Together) as they work to improve the quality of life of themselves as well as community.
As Blue Heart graduated their first class of seniors the feel was that one that created a sense of celebration as well as community. These young men are the driving force for many successful community clean-ups, programs and events. Blue Heart feels it’s very important to acknowledge these young men for their accomplishments. Salina Scott (Parent) stated “Our son James has had the wonderful opportunity to be part of such a great experience, The Blue Heart Foundation Inc., has given him various opportunities to better himself, and in doing so has extended his perceptions of how much he can impact others as well as himself, by showing compassion for others’ lives, and experiences. James has always had words of encouragement to share with others, but his participation with Blue Heart has allowed actions as well.”
As the awards portion of the event began with the recognition of this year’s President Volunteer Service Award winners with Bronze Level Awards going to Jamil Duke, James Scott, Jacques Morgan and Demaurier Palmer; the Lifetime Achievement Award went to Isaiah Coleman. Next came recognition from Congressman Juan Vargas by District Representative Stephanie R Allen who’s beautifully compelling presentation filled the room with appreciation and love.
Finally, we get to the signing day … Where will the seniors be taking the next step in their academic journey? First was Dallas Edge who committed to UC Merced followed by Demaurier Palmer (Alabama A&M) whom stated “When Tracy trusted me, I has no choice but to give 110 %. So, when it was my last chance to take my SAT.. I wasn’t going to let walking 6 miles stop me! Next was Jamil Duke (Sacramento State) followed by Jacques Morgan (Alabama A&M), Bernard Richardson (Northern Arizona University), James Scott IV (California State – Los Angeles) whom said “I’m not done with Blue Heart and going to come back to mentor” and closed with Isaiah Coleman whom said “I never had a fraternity of brothers until now…and I’m proud to be a member of The Blue Heart Foundation.
We want to be sure to thank both the San Diego’s Black Police Officer Association and Edith Jimmerson for their contributions. Last but not certainly not least we want to be sure to thank all the parents and community supporters. Without your support there would be no HEART of Blue Heart Foundation. Tracy Morris proudly exclaimed “I am so full of joy, pride and thankfulness that these wonderful people trust me with their most precious gift… their children”

by April | Community, Education, Volunteerism
April 30th, 2016 – The Urban League of San Diego County celebrated its 25th Annual Golden Pyramid Scholars Program. The event took place at San Diego Concourse, Golden Hall. The program was designed to identify, recruit, nurture and support students who are striving to achieve academic and economic excellence. The communities’ goal is to ensure that its future parents, politicians, scientists, carpenters, doctors, and professors are identified early and supported continuously in their quest to achieve excellence.
Members of HEART had the opportunity to not only receive awards for academic excellence with cumulative GPA’s of 3.0 and above. These dedicated, service minded young men arrived as early as 7:00 AM to provide assistance in any and every way possible. Tasks given to these young men included but were not limited to award recipient registration, door assistance, ushering and event coordination as well as handing out brochures. All 20 members in attendance received the highest accolades from the San Diego Urban League’s Young Professionals
In partnership with several community based organizations, The Blue Heart Foundation provided access to more than $50,000 in scholarships and grants. Scholarship partners included, San Diego State University; San Ysidro Health Center, and Neighborhood House Association & Urban League of San Diego County. Additional thanks goes to our military personnel who volunteered their time to help with logistics and crowd management.
The Golden Pyramid Academic Scholars Awards program provided participating organizations and businesses an opportunity to connect with more than 1,300 high-achieving underrepresented youth and their families. This year’s program attracted more than 2,529 people. Participants were encouraged to enroll in one of our year-round youth programs such as Project Ready (College Readiness Programs for males and females 11-18).
The Golden Pyramid Scholars Program features encouraging messages which promote academic achievement, civic responsibility and professional success. The programs emphasis on academic achievement and career success attracts aspiring, influential teens and young adults, ages 8-18 along with loyal parents/grandparents/guardians of all ages. These consumers bring a mindset perfect for marketing certain consumer brands, career opportunities and social campaigns that appeal to this trend-setting demographic.

by April | Education, Mentoring
Saturday, April 16, 2016 San Diego, CA HEART (Higher Education And Rising Together attended the 6th Annual Youth of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow Summit sponsored by Reach One Teach One, Inc.
These youth summits are nothing short of amazing! With over 100 youth gathered together at one time – learning, sharing and being challenged to think out of the box and push beyond status quo – The goal is to reach as many youth as we can, as fast as we can.
Summits create an environment for youth to come together and develop positive relationships with their peers, gain insight to professional and academic possibilities, and to build a strong network. These events are healthy, safe and positive recreational opportunities. Youth will leave with a sense of confidence, a forward-thinking frame of mind and new connects with peers, professionals, schools, employers and mentors; that they may have never connected with before.

by April | Education, Mentoring
March’s HEART workshop focus was on career opportunities and International Travel. The first session was facilitated by Dr.
Shalom Akili who recently traveled to Malaysia and shared his experience with the group. For three weeks Dr. Akili was immersed in the culture of Malaysia and taught lessons to students between the ages of 13-18. His experience was one that was certainly life changing.
This was followed by a dynamic presentation where Dr. Aaron Bruce presented on opportunities to “Keep it Global” Dr. Bruce discussed his many trips abroad and how the world is becoming such a smaller community. Touching on the importance that our young men seek out opportunities to travel Internationally. Needless to say we will be working to make a HEART trip to Africa happen within the next year.
Lastly, Charles Anderson stopped by from the Urban League to discuss volunteer opportunities at the Golden Pyramid Awards as well as scholarship opportunities. Be sure to fill out the scholarship and essay as soon as possible.
