California Roots begin in 1968

MESA began when Wilbur Somerton, a Professor of engineering at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) was repeatedly unable to fill industry recruiters' requests for African American and Hispanic engineering graduates. He became increasingly concerned when an investigation of engineering classes showed that, very few, if any, of these students were even enrolled. In 1968, he sought assistance from Bill Somerville, then the Director of UCB's Equal Opportunity Program.  Somerton proceeded to design a program that would help students complete three or four years of high school mathematics before they entered college; that program was called MESA!

The program began at Oakland Technical High School in February 1970, when twenty-five students were selected to participate in the program. The first MESA Advisor, Mary Perry Smith, worked to implement the program along with Beth Cobb O'Neil and Professor Somerton, who volunteered to share responsibilities as the first MESA Coordinators. In June 1970, MESA graduated its first twelve students. All of the graduates entered a four-year university or two-year community college; three now work as engineers, two completed degrees in economics and business administration, and one works as a chemical technician.

Through the years, MESA has developed a highly successful model that incorporates academic enrichment in mathematics and science, college preparation, career awareness and teacher professional development.  This model is based upon strong partnerships forged among federal and state governments, private industry, higher education, public education, teachers, parents and community.  These partners work together to support student academic success in math and science.

In the 1980s there was a large expansion of the MESA program and it was adopted by several states including Maryland, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.  These state MESA organizations are now part of MESA U.S.A.  .

Utah MESA/STEP Consortium
(Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement/Science Technology Engineering Programs)

In Utah, the University of Utah and the Granite School District initiated the MESA Program in 1985-86, with a small group of 52 students.  In the fall of the 2005-2006 school year, the Utah MESA/STEP Consortium celebrated the twenty years that MESA has been in Utah and the following outline history was put together for that celebration.

UTAH MESA/STEP CONSORTIUM:  THE FIRST 10 YEARS

1984

Mr. Antonio (Tony) Gonzales, Granite School District, obtained district funds from Dr. Mildred Martin, Director of Curriculum and Development, to begin a pilot math class program at Kennedy Junior High and Kearns High School.  The purpose of the program was to increase the numbers of ethnic minorities in the advance math course track.  Teachers would be hired to teach during their preparation period.

1984-Fall

Mr. Tony Gonzales and Dr. Paul Ross, Granite School District, attended a fall National Indian Education Association (NIEA) conference in San Diego, and learned of the California MESA Program.  MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) was a program that had achieved success in promoting science and engineering among minority secondary students since 1970.  The students would then continue into a similar college program called MEP (Minority Engineering Program).

1984-Aug

Dr. Edward Trujillo was hired by the University of Utah’s College of Engineering.  During his interview, Dr. Afesa Adams, Associate VP for Academic Affairs met with Dr. Trujillo to express interest in developing programs that would encourage more ethnic students to enroll in math, engineering, and science courses.  Dr. Trujillo had been a founding member of CMEA (Colorado Minority Engineering Association), which had been patterned after the California MESA/MEP program.

1984-85

With support and input from the deans of the College of Mines and Earth Sciences, College of Science, and College of Engineering, Dr. Adams and Dr. Trujillo approached Mr. Richard Gomez, Utah State Office of Education, with a proposal for a MESA/MEP-type program for Utah.  Mr. Gomez informed them of the efforts of Granite School District, determining that the district would be a natural fit for a Utah MESA/MEP program.

1984-85

The Utah MESA/MEP (MEP was later changed to STEP) was created.  The organization was set up with a board of directors, electing Dr. Trujillo as its first chair.  Dr. Mildred Martin, Granite, was the vice-chair, and Mr. Richard Gomez, USOE, was the Secretary.  The members of the first board included Dr. Afesa Adams, U of U, Mr. Tony Gonzales, Granite, and Dr. Joe Andrade, U of U, among others.  The Industry Advisory Board (later changed to Council) and a Technical Advisory Board (now Public Education Committee) were also organized.  Each board played a key role in the overall success of the program by involving Higher Education, Public Education, Industry, and the community in a consortium.

1985

The executive director of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) visited Utah and was impressed with the Granite District’s commitment.  Then, through the efforts of Dr. Trujillo, NACME awarded a Field Service and Retention Grant to the University of Utah for $15,000 to help start the MEP program. (The grant was later renewed with $10,000 for a second year).

1985-Aug

The Board of Directors hired the first MESA Director, Ms. Jo Reiber and the first MEP Director, Mr. Dwayne Wilson.  Ms. Reiber was housed at the Utah State Office of Education, but funding for her salary came from Dr. Afesa Adams’ Office at the University of Utah.

1985-86

Kennedy Junior High had 27 MESA members with Mr. Mike Vaughn, councilor, as its first club advisor.  Ms. Linda Bryden, councilor, assisted getting students into Mr. Clayton Neilson’s MESA Pre-Algebra class – the first under the new program.  Kearns High School had 20 students with Mr. Glen Kawa as its first MESA club advisor. Activities included the MESA Student-Parent Orientation in September, a tour of the U of U campus, the First Annual MESA/MEP Building Competition, and the First Annual MESA/MEP Year-End Conference held in June at the University of Utah.

1986-87

The MESA program was conducted in three schools in the Granite School District (Kearns High School, Kennedy Junior High, and West Lake Junior High), two school in the Jordan District (Hillcrest High School and Midvale Middle School), and  two school in the Salt Lake District (West High School and Northwest Intermediate).  There were 246 students in the program.

1987-88

Mr. Cardenas Shackelford was hired as the second MESA director and Ms. Christine Reyes was hired as the second MEP director.  No additional school were added but the total number of students in the 7 schools increased to 302.   

1987-88

No additional schools were added but the number of students in the 7 schools increased to 429.  At the end of the of the school year, Mr. Dane Goodfellow, IBM, and a member of the Industry Advisory Board, made a presentation to the Granite Board of Education about the success of MESA.  The Board authorized that MESA Clubs could eventually be established in all Granite secondary schools and MESA Pre-Algebra classes taught in the junior high schools with high minority populations – with the proviso that all females be included in the target population of MESA.     

1988-89

Ms. Kate Rhodes was hired as the third MESA director. The MESA program added the Provo School District, increasing the total to four districts with 17 school and 686 students in the program.

1989-90

Ms. Fanaye Turner was hired as the new state-wide MESA coordinator (new title) and Ms. Rhodes was hired as third MEP director.  The number of school rose to 21 with 867 students in the program.  Salt Lake Community College joined the MESA/MEP consortium, thanks to the efforts of Professor Verlaine McPhie and later Dr. David Richardson and Ms. Charlotte Starks.  Dr. Ronald Coleman replaced Dr. Deter Gehmlich (who replaced Dr. Afesa Adams) and became the Associate Vice President for Diversity and served as Treasurer for the Board of Directors for 9 years..  

1990

During the 1990 legislative session, an unsuccessful bill was introduced to support the MESA programs in the public schools as a line item in the Utah State Office of Education Budget.

1991

During the 1991 legislative session the bill was successful, providing MESA with $156,000 of funding for academic year 1991-92 (and it has increased incrementally each year since then).  Dr. Trujillo was appointed to a new position in the College of Engineering Dean’s office, the Assistant Dean for Minority Affairs.

1991-92

The MESA program expanded to five districts by adding the Ogden School District and it now had 34 schools with 1460 students in the program.  Weber State University joined the consortium largely through the efforts of Dr. Warren Hill, Dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology, and Mr. Barry Gomberg, Director of Affirmative Action.

1992-93

The MESA program added Carbon and Weber school districts bringing the total to seven with 53 schools and  2153 students in the program.  Weber State started their METP (Minority Engineering Technology Program) and hired its first director, Ms. Freddie Cooper.    

1993-94

The MESA state-wide office was moved to the University of Utah in October 1993 and the board approved the hiring of a statewide MESA assistant to provide support to the Statewide MESA Coordinator, Ms. Fanaye Turner.  MESA was now providing services to 2420 students in 56 schools.

1993-Nov

The regional conference of NAMEPA (National Association for Minority Engineering Program Administrators, Inc.) was held for the first time in Salt Lake City in conjunction with the annual Utah MESA Statewide Training Conference, at the Doubletree Hotel.  Ms. Kay F. Toliver, 1993 United States Presidential Awardee and star of the PBS show, “Good Morning Miss Toliver,” was the keynote speaker for the training conference.  Mr. Phil Bernal, Utah State Board of Regents was added as a new member of the Board of Directors.

1994-95

The MESA program expanded to 69 school with 3316 students.  Utah MESA/MEP, Inc. changed its name to Utah MESA/STEP (Science Technology Engineering Program) in order to truly reflect the scope of the organization at the higher education level, including science and technology as well as engineering.  Mr. Robert Romero, ATK-Thiokol, joined the Industry Advisory Board.

1995-2005 (The Second Decade of MESA)

During its second decade, MESA has fluctuated between 70 to 80 schools with between 2500 and 3300 students.  Beginning with the 2003-2004 school year, management of the MESA portion of the MESA/STEP Consortium, was shifted to the Utah State Office of Education.

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