Alarmed by a lack of ethnic diversity and concerned that it would inhibit new ideas and fresh perspectives, Uchenna Udemezue and colleagues decided to change the face of the Depart-ment of Engineering and Trans-portation in San Leandro, Calif.Today, the department is anything but homogeneous. Thanks to aggressive outreach that includes targeted recruiting and partnerships with area junior high schools, high schools, colleges and universities, about 45 percent of its engineers are white, about 20 percent are black, 20 percent are Asian and 5 percent are Hispanic. Seven years ago, the engineers were 85 percent white, 10 percent Asian and 5
