Charles Mason Jr. oral history - July 14, 2022

I am Joseph Bernardo and I'm interviewing Charles Mason for the Inclusive History and Images Project, a project which seeks to recover the histories of the diverse members of the family.

We are on the campus, in the creative studio, Creative Spaces Studios. And today is July 14th, 2022. Mr. Mason, do you give me permission to interview you

for the Inclusive History and Images project? And do you allow the recording to be used in accordance with the stated goals of the project? Absolutely.

Absolutely. Happy to be here. And certainly call me Charles. Charles, Thank you.

So for I going to start off with some biographical questions for the interview. What is your full name? Name is Charles Mason Jr.

When and where were you born? Born in Los Angeles. A long time ago. In February.

February 15th. Day after Valentine's Day. Where is your hometown? Or the area which in which you grew up?

Grew up in Los Angeles, specifically South Central Los Angeles, known as South LA. Currently live in Inglewood. What's your current position at LMU?

My position is Associate Director. Transfer Admissions. Diversity Inclusion. And how do you identify yourself?

Identify myself as African American. Black male. All right. So now we're going to go into some questions about

your experiences here in LMU. How did you first get acquainted with the university? I was telling father ing this story. I've always had this interest and passion with colleges and

universities and really started the college admissions kind of process when I was in middle school or high school, just really intrigued with colleges and universities. Certainly UCLA, SC and I used to watch this TV

show that really highlighted private colleges in Los Angeles every Saturday, and I would rather go out and play basketball. I would watch this show and one day it highlighted Loyola marymount University, and I'd kind of heard of Alemu,

but not really familiar. So I watched this show and I remember Father Merrifield was the president at the time and he talked about LMU, and I became more and more fascinated with LMU.

Fast forward as I started looking at colleges and universities, I had friends who went to school here and became more interested in LMU, never knowing that I would have the opportunity to work here, but really intrigued with the

college admissions process and came full circle from that TV show talking about LMU highlighting LMU. Now I've been working here. So when and where did you get the position.

Here? I got the position in November of 1990. I saw the position at that time. There were one ads.

LA Times had this admissions college position open. I decided to apply. Prior to that, I was kind of a career counselor and became fascinated with, Well, should I go ahead and

apply? And I applied the first interview I actually missed because I was a counselor working with students and women who were looking to go into education.

I had a meeting and overlapped and missed the meeting or the interview and rescheduled came for the interview all day interview and more and more I interviewed people more and more excited.

I actually got about the position but didn't really think I would actually be awarded the position or offered the position, and here I am. Was it with admissions?

It was admissions. I interviewed with admissions student affairs. I remember interviewing with Seth Thompson. Dr. Thompson was a dean of liberal arts and Barbara

Bussey, Dr. Barbara Bussey, who was at the time associate Vice president. And during the interview I enjoyed talking to them and talking about my experience and talking about what I knew

about LMU. And I said, Now I won't get the position, but really enjoyed the process, the interview all day process. So it was a lot of fun but didn't think

I get the job. Why not just, you know, I was just so excited about talking and, you know, talking with the people here. But I said, Oh, they'll probably get somebody else, you

know, just kind of doubting myself. But again, enjoy the process. So why did you decide to work here? I was intrigued.

The more I studied about LMU and got familiar with LMU and I knew people who went to school here, I decided to, you know, take the shot, do the interview and upon being offered the job, I thought there

were great possibilities. And looking at the Jesuit mission, the tradition of Jesuit education and the people I knew who went to school here and people who had graduated from here, there were

people that were so well rounded and really articulate and really well educated and that passion to serve others, to help others to be men and women for others. All of that came full circle for me.

And I'm like, Hey, when I got offered the position, really didn't think twice. I'm like, Yep, I'd be happy to work here, honored to work here.

So you've been here since 1990. Did you have any did you develop any mentors here? Absolutely. Absolutely.

The late, great Dr. John Davis, who was taught in sociology, chair of African American Studies, he was a mentor. There were others within the community who had went to school here, who kind of mentored me and gave me

kind of insight into LMU. But here on the campus, Dr. John Davis, as well as Dr. Cheryl Grills, who started here before I did, and Dr. Grills is known worldwide and she's still here

thank goodness, teaching and actually psychology department but taught in African American studies. And she really has had a presence and still has a presence in the African American community, but known worldwide

for her expertise in psychology. Yeah. How did those relationships develop? Mentorship, relationships.

Just talking to them and being aware of their involvement within the African American community here in Los Angeles and knowing of them at that time. And then once I got here, just really picking their

brain and talking to them about the community, about the institution, and those things were really beneficial and still beneficial in the case of Dr. Grills, you know, we talk she's so busy all over the place, but we talk

from time to time. And, you know, I think one of the greatest accomplishments of her many accomplishments here at LMU was coordinating the graduation ceremony for African American students.

And that has been absolutely amazing. Every time, you know, being on the front end and working with students as they come in out of high school as an admissions counselor.

And then the ultimate program is the Kent graduation. We just have that in May. And watching those young people go through the process here at LMU and initially working with some of them as

early as elementary school, as a current young lady who works here at the campus, I met her through her father's involvement with the 100 black men who are one of our partners here at LMU.

And she was eight, nine years old, and she would come to the campus and I would tease her and say, You're going to come to school here. Fast forward now.

She's in the master's program. You know, just seeing that whole process high school and early on and coming to school here and seeing them graduate and just, you know, seeing Dr. Grills pretty much

head up that program since the inception. It's just been, you know, if I had to write a movie or a book, I'd just write about my experience here at LMU and the mentors, the students, and

it's just been phenomenal. Yeah. Well, this is what we're trying to do is capture a little bit of that movie or book about your

experience. We're on campus. Have you felt most at home. With in the admissions?

Working with the students? Certainly there. I spend days and nights and months and years in the admissions office and then programing working with the students

in their programs from Kent to the overnight program to the one on one meetings, you know, certainly in admissions and then the programing that we've done with students. How about organizations?

What organizations were you a part of here on campus? Here on campus, I've been a moderator, mentor for the Black Student Union organization that exist. We've had Brothers of consciousness, African American male organization, even

been a part of the advisory committee with these sisters and Solidarity, you know, the black female organization, they're working with the historical black fraternities and sororities working with them and being an advisor, and then the African American Alumni

Association. I've been blessed to work with the majority of black students who came to you in the 90s. I think that was the highest number we've ever had.

Thus they transitioned in from being students to being members of the Alumni Association. So being kind of an advisor to those groups and other groups on the campus to, you know, the students

of color organizations like the mentor groups and being an advisor there to matcha to the Asian Pacific Islander student programs and organizations being there to advise them and being, you know, an ear of support and help for them.

So that's been my role to help out the students. So you've been so, so involved with so many organizations here. How how is that shaped your experience here at LMU?

Oh, it's rewarding, absolutely. Coming in nervous and unsure of themselves and then watching them grow from week to week to month to month, year to year, and then leave here, graduate and become

professionals. You know, one of the programs that really was part of the founding group was the Learning Community, the TLC program.

You know, just being a part and watching that development and watching them grow in from becoming from men and, you know, men and women from, you know, being boys and girls, just seeing that whole process has been phenomenal.

So you've been in LMU for over three decades now. How how have you seen change over time. Changed over time? When I started here, I think my specific job was,

you know, recruiting African American students. And at the time, as a student here in Los Angeles, I remember when there was really a robust black student population, maybe eight, nine, 10%, and then going down

when I started a job, maybe 2%. And we're not that far from a predominantly African American community. And Inglewood certainly is a community of people of color

and just wondering, well, hey, we had Westchester High School right down the street, substantial number of students of color, Saint Bernard's High school, Inglewood, Morningside. And I was just curious as to why we weren't

getting more of those students. And they opted for UCLA, USC and historically black colleges and colleges outside of the LA area. And I was just like, well, you know, we've got

to really do some work in that area. And when I started here, and I know the people who were working in that position prior to me getting the position, you know, I talked to them and more

than anybody else, the students themselves felt empowered, you know, and they would help me go all over Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, even in Northern California, in the Bay Area.

They would assist me in terms of recruiting and we would travel all over the place on weekends and weekdays and afternoons, evenings, and they took part in that ownership of that recruitment effort.

I was kind of like the point guard, so to speak. But they took initiative. They would have students come up here, you know, after

hours and mentor these students and talk to the students not only about LMU, but what it was like being a black African American student in college at the time. It's a predominantly white institution.

And so, you know, a lot of them I attribute to the recruitment efforts then and now, you know, in terms of being out there, the alums are very engaged in our recruitment efforts, as are the current students and

the ones that came before them. So that was the greatest experience in having partnering with those students and then those students being empowered and taking on responsibility over and beyond, you know, being a student

here, they were really engaged in that process. Why do you think there was a decline from 10% to as close to 2% during that time? I would say being a private institution and costing more

than the. Dates in the U.S. and in some cases the historical black colleges. But I think we have done a lot in terms

of being more visible in the community as well as. As the numbers increase in our students coming to school here. Alumni base has increased and people being out there and

exposing the greatness of LMU and the institution itself and the community, the communities of color and specifically the African American community. What are some of high points and challenges of being

an African American male on campus? I would say no question about it. When you look at the percentages, they were small when I started here, African American males on the campus, and

it's always been close to 3 to 1, black females to males and maybe a little bit around that same number now. And the challenge is, you know, the perception about being

an African American male. There were times when I started here I had to show my ID card, you know, so that people would they hadn't seen me and wouldn't know that I wasn't

just, you know, on the campus. I actually work here and perceptions, stereotypes in the classroom. And we really mentor the males to make sure that they felt welcomed here.

They had a community here and connected them with faculty and staff on the campus so that they would feel a sense of belonging here on the campus. But, you know, there were times, you know, people would

see me and kind of ask me, well, where are you from? Who are you with? And some people who worked here, you know, that kind

of thing. So as time has gone on, it's gotten much, much better. But in the beginning, you know, it was kind of

like, you know, it was some challenges, needless to say, you know, and I would work late on the campus, you know, and outside the campus. When I started this job at the time, my mother

and father were alive and they would, you know, pretty much move here from, you know, from the south and came to Los Angeles. And one of the areas that they would warn me,

warn me about was Westchester, predominantly white community here. And they would say, hey, when you're traveling, you know, especially late at night, make sure you got your wallet, your ID, your license and all that.

So in case you have been stopped in a few times, I have been stopped leaving the campus at, you know, midnight and sometimes 10 or 11:00, you know, And it got to the point where I think some of

the officers kind of knew who I were who were patrolling the area. And I know for a fact there are LAPD who live in the area then and now.

So, you know, just making sure that I was aware and the students, the male specifically, were aware to make sure you got your ID, both license as well as ID.

When do you think that changed? And and how do you think that changed? Was there a specific policies that that shifted towards a more welcoming environment?

Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, when I started here, it was difficult for black students to really candidly have parties on the campus.

And they would congregate in my office and I tell them, hey, you know, you guys can hang out in the office here, just make sure everything is secure and, you know, just conversation we would have.

And I think gradually, you know, our offices on the campus, specifically student affairs, realized that there there needed to be a place where black students can congregate and get together beyond their dorm rooms.

And so there were more and more activities for black students. We had people we had an Office of Black Student Services, and the students got together there.

But I would be on the campus so late. I remember students walking around the campus over the weekends when they didn't leave the campus or go home, and some of them were from out of state.

They would congregate in my office, office of Black Student Services, and, you know, they would go to parties in and around SC that, you know, the organizations would sponsor. And so that helped a lot.

But gradually I think there was a it became more and more welcoming with the BSU and the other organizations, the fraternities and sororities would be on campus. So it got better as we went through the 90s,

you know, a lot better. Were you involved in any kind of student or community activism during your time and you and what's specific? Yeah, I work with and continue to work with the

100 black men and they have a component of the Young Black Scholars program working with them. And I'm a member of the 100 Black Men, your traditional organizations like the NAACP, and they have a youth

in college division. Certainly the fraternity and sororities were having mentor programs and being involved with them, community based organizations, you know, watch Labor Action Community agency that had.

Youth programs and other organizations. And without question. Heart and soul of my involvement and involvement within the community has been with the churches, and we still have

relationships with First Day of Me Church and other denominations, Church of God in Christ, and those mentor programing and being involved with those programs and doing outreach and talking about college and missions to those organizations, not necessarily emphasizing

LMU, but certainly they're going to be aware of the fact that we me, as well as the students, we're doing presentations to the various churches within the community. So that kind of involvement, I think is necessary and

can and has been continued. You know, we do a lot of outreach, you know, to those programs. And me being directly involved I think has made a

difference. Do you remember any protests or any kind of specific campaigns dealing with the African American African American community during your time here?