UC President Dr. Michael Drake Visits McClatchy High

By OBSERVER Newsroom

Returning to C.K. McClatchy High School during Black History Month, UC President Dr. Michael Drake, the system’s first Black president, delivered a powerful message to hundreds of students and faculty addressing myriad issues, including his experience as a student at the school.

The pioneering administrator was interviewed by members of the McClatchy student newspaper staff, with whom he shared his unique perspective and discussed his distinguished career. Drake, who will step down as UC president this summer, also addressed issues such as standardized testing and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“How much better we are together than we are separately,” he said at the Feb. 11 event. “It’s irrefutably the case, and we can do so much more together than we can individually or more separately.”

Drake shared that when the UC system stopped using SAT/ACT scores, the student retention rate remained unchanged. He felt that the tests did not significantly impact student success and were correlated more with parental income than actual ability.

“In 2019 when we were using the standardized test, we had about 93.8% retention. Those people finished the first year, starting the second year. In 2022, after we hadn’t been using the test for three years, we had a 93.8% retention,” he said.

Drake, who was inducted into the McClatchy High School Hall of Fame, recalled being one of the few Black students in clubs and activities in high school, but making a conscious decision not to let that be a barrier. He wanted to participate in things he found fun and interesting, and was able to make friends despite the lack of diversity.

Support for this Sacramento OBSERVER article was provided to Word In Black (WIB) by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. WIB is a collaborative of 10 Black-owned media that includes print and digital partners.

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