Diversity Ambassador Program

Founded in 1999, the Diversity Ambassador Program is an academic program that supports Cal Poly Pomona’s mission to advance knowledge by linking theory and practice to prepare students for lifelong learning and careers in a changing multicultural world. The program was formed to educate Cal Poly Pomona students about the significance of the Civil Rights Movement.

Diversity Ambassadors are students who travel on an alternative educational spring break. Our goal is to have students of diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds travel to the east coast of the United States of America to visit historical monuments, museums, Black colleges, churches, and institutions related to the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement.

The program strives to cultivate student leaders who are focused on social injustice and bettering their community through their involvement.

Student Impact: Trip to the South

Diversity Ambassador

2016-2017

“Diversity Ambassadors has not only opened my eyes to experiences and history I’ve never learned before, but it truly helped me develop a sense of urgency and determination when it comes to learning about social justice. Many events happened in the Civil Rights era that mirror events happening right now. The issues and struggles remain present today and need to be addressed. DA has brought me closer to my peers and closer to a community that I hardly knew anything about. I am grateful and privileged to be welcomed into a space I did not identify with. My aim was to learn about different communities, and I feel that this trip exposed me to diverse viewpoints and opinions. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn about the Civil Rights movement, and I am thankful a program like this exists. This trip will forever be in my heart and memory.”

Diversity Ambassador

2016-2017

Diversity Ambassador

2016-2017

Diversity Ambassador

2016-2017

“Being a Diversity Ambassador has impacted me by showing me I had the strength and courage to go out and make a difference in the world. I am an introvert by nature, and I had to step out of my comfort zone along this journey. But the growth that I experienced was well worth it. After becoming a Diversity Ambassador, I am encouraged to go out and start the sometimes uncomfortable conversations about what diversity actually means and how it affects society. This program has given me a new family, a world- worth of knowledge that I will take with me forever, and an experience with history a part of me that I never knew I had”

Diversity Ambassador

2016-2017

Diversity Ambassador

2016-2017

Diversity Ambassador

2016-2017

“Diversity Ambassadors has ultimately improved my world view; it has increased my self-awareness and my love for my culture. I have learned more in Diversity Ambassadors this year than I have in my entire time spent in grade school history classes. There is so much underestimated value in this organization and class that cannot be duplicated or replaced. This experience has changed my entire life, and there is nothing I can do to discredit what I have been given.”

Diversity Ambassador

2016-2017

Diversity Ambassador

2016-2017

Diversity Ambassador

2016-2017

“My history does not start nor end with slavery. Because I have learned my history, I can make an impact in the present to protect our future, so that the past will not repeat itself. There is no shame in being black. Behind the black skin there is love, unity, and power. I have just had to learn to love myself and black peers in a world where it is telling us to hate. When you learn to love and appreciate the life you have been given is when you have truly freed yourself.”

Diversity Ambassador

2016-2017

Diversity Ambassador

2016-2017

Student Impact: Trip to the East Coast

Diversity Ambassador

2018-2019

“I personally feel that the Diversity Ambassador Program has taught me more than anything in my K-12 history experience. I have become more appreciative of the activism in the Civil Rights Movement, the abolitionist during the enslavement period, and the freedom seekers that have paved the way for me to have the rights that I have today. My Black history has impacted the way I think about how far we have come as Black people and how the fight is still not over. We, as Black people, have the power to change the way we are being treated by lifting our community. In the words of Maya Angelou, I do feel like I am the dream and hope of enslaved Africans.”

Diversity Ambassador

2018-2019

Diversity Ambassador

2018-2019

Diversity Ambassador

2018-2019

“Being a Diversity Ambassador has not only exposed me to a plethora of past historical events centered on the struggle for civil rights, but it has also ignited a passion and determination within me to ultimately fight for modern-day injustices within the legal system. Furthermore, being exposed to a culture I personally do not identify with has truly opened my eyes to the beauty and uniqueness associated with African American culture, along with the importance of community it emphasizes. Overall, being part of Diversity Ambassadors is truly an extraordinary opportunity to gain a learn-by-doing experience centered on African American history and the civil rights era, an experience that I will forever cherish.”

Diversity Ambassador

2018-2019

Diversity Ambassador

2018-2019

Diversity Ambassador

2018-2019

“I stood on the ground that my ancestors were buried in. I felt the pain that Emmett Till’s mother wanted the world to feel. I met Hilary O. Shelton, the NAACP Washington Bureau & Senior VP for Policy and Advocacy director. There is no longer a soul on this planet, who can tell me what I cannot do because I have been reminded and know that I come from greatness.”

Diversity Ambassador

2018-2019

Diversity Ambassador

2018-2019