The California Forums for Diversity in Graduate Education, planned by a consortium of public and private colleges and universities from throughout California, have been designed particularly to meet the needs of advanced undergraduates and master's candidates who belong to groups that are currently underrepresented in doctoral-level programs. The groups include low-income and first-generation college students and especially African Americans, American Indians, Chicanos/Latinos, Filipinos, Pacific Islanders, Asian American women, and Asian American men in the arts, humanities, and social and behavioral sciences.

This year Saint Mary's College will host the Forum for the first time. Here on our campus, approximately 1,200 pre-selected, high-achieving undergraduate and master's students (including some of our own aspiring SMC students) from throughout Northern California will come together. They will explore graduate opportunities and resources by participating in numerous workshops over the course of the day. (Detailed workshop/panel descriptions can be found here.) This year's plenary speaker will be UCSF Professor Tracy Richmond McKnight. Universities and individual graduate programs offering academic master's and/or Ph.D. degrees from all over the United States as well as abroad will participate in the recruitment fair that takes place concurrently with other planned activities.