Audrey Pak and UCLA: Athletics, Academics, and Community Engagement
UCLA is a hub of activity, renowned for both its athletic prowess and academic rigor. This article explores various facets of UCLA, from its women's volleyball team to the impactful research conducted by its faculty and the experiences of its students.
UCLA Women's Volleyball: A Season Preview
The No. 19 UCLA women’s volleyball team is set to face No. 24 TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, on September 5 and 6 at Schollmaier Arena. These matches will be broadcast on ESPNU. UCLA's current record stands at 1-1 after splitting their opening two matches. The Bruins secured a five-set victory against Long Beach State in their season opener, marking their first five-set win since the start of the previous season. Cheridyn Leverette currently leads UCLA in scoring, averaging 4.17 points per set and 3.78 kills per set.
Reflecting on the Previous Season
In its inaugural Big Ten season, UCLA finished with an overall record of 14-15. The team tied for tenth place in the conference standings with an 8-12 mark, sharing the spot with Michigan and Indiana.
New Additions and Coaching Leadership
UCLA's roster has been bolstered by ten newcomers, including five transfers and five freshmen. The team is led by head coach Alfee Reft, who is now in his third year.
Key Player: Cheridyn Leverette
Junior outside hitter Cheridyn Leverette was recognized as an Honorable Mention AVCA All-American. Last year, she led the team in total points (464), kills (435), points per set (4.43), and kills per set (4.14). Leverette’s performance ranked her sixth among Big Ten players in kills per set and tenth overall for total kills last season.
Read also: The Rise of Audrey Rose Coleman
Opening Week Highlights
UCLA’s opening week featured a five-set win over Long Beach State, with significant contributions from new additions Maggie Li, Marianna Singletary, and Zayna Meyer. UCLA holds an eight-win record across its last eleven season openers. This includes back-to-back five-set victories over Georgia Tech (2024) and Long Beach State (2025).
TCU's Season Start
TCU began its campaign by defeating reigning national champion Penn State in five sets. This was the second-highest ranked win in their program's history. This victory came after falling to No. 3 Pitt during the State Farm Volleyball Showcase event over Labor Day Weekend. Last year, TCU finished with a record of 22-8 and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. This season marks their first preseason ranking at No. 24 according to the AVCA poll.
Faculty Research and Impact
UCLA's faculty are actively engaged in research that addresses critical issues in education and society. Their interdisciplinary work contributes to a deeper understanding of race, equity, and cultural dynamics.
Daniel G. Solórzano: Critical Race Theory and Microaggressions
Daniel G. Solórzano is a professor in the University of California Los Angeles’ Departments of Education and Chicana/o and Central American Studies. He also serves as the Director of the Center for Critical Race Studies in Education at UCLA. Solórzano is an interdisciplinary scholar with research and teaching interests in critical race theory, racial microaggressions and microaffirmations, and critical race spatial analysis. He is the co-author (with Lindsay Perez Huber) of Racial Microaggressions: Using Critical Race Theory to Respond to Everyday Racism (2020). This book examines how People of Color are impacted by and respond to everyday racism in the form of racial microaggressions.
Student Research and Perspectives
UCLA's graduate students are also engaged in significant research, often focusing on issues of race, culture, and equity in education.
Read also: UCLA vs. Illinois: Basketball History
Omar: Retention Efforts for Students of Color
Omar is a doctoral student in Race, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Education at UCLA. His work broadly focuses on retention efforts and the college-to-career transition of Students of Color from underserved communities. He aims to support Central American students by mitigating the racial and ethnic-based microaggressions they experience in educational institutions. His research brings together Critical Race Theory, Latina/o Critical Legal Theory, Black Latinidad, Critical Latinx Indigeneities, and a Comparative Analytic Framework to highlight the heterogeneous nature of the Central American diaspora.
Michelle C. Velasco: Pilipinx Students in Higher Education
Michelle C. Velasco is a Ph.D. student at UCLA in Race, Ethnic, Historic, and Cultural Studies. Her research interests examine the social, cultural, and historic institutions that influence how Pilipinx students navigate higher education. Prior to doctoral education, she worked as a TRiO college advisor and coordinator to support low-income and first-generation students of color in navigating higher education.
Brenda Yvonne Lopez: Critical Race Feminista Methodologies
Brenda Yvonne Lopez is an interdisciplinary scholar, educator, and filmmaker whose work brings together Critical Race Feminista methodologies, culturally responsive pedagogy, and visual storytelling. Her academic and creative work includes a broad portfolio of documentary and narrative films, as well as media-based curricular projects that have been featured in classrooms and film festivals internationally. Recent projects include From the Margin to the Center, a film series highlighting Latinx and Black faculty in Education and Information Studies at UCLA.
Brenda Chavez: Non-Traditional Latinx Students
Brenda Chavez completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology with a minor in Education Studies at UCLA. Her research centers the experiences of non-traditional Latinx students in higher education, specifically community colleges.
Kourtney Kawano: Indigenous Learning and Resistance
Kourtney Kawano is a wahine ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian woman) scholar specializing in critical inquiries into race, ethnicity, and culture across P-20 schooling pipelines. The proverb “ʻAʻohe pau ka ʻike i ka hālau hoʻokahi (all knowledge is not taught in the same school)” grounds her research on Indigenous learning and resistance in schools, homes, and communities.
Read also: Navigating Tech Breadth at UCLA
John Pak: Deaf Critical Race Theory
John Pak is a Ph.D. candidate at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSE&IS), specializing in Race, Ethnic and Cultural Studies. He also serves as a Lecturer for the Department of Deaf Studies at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). His research reimagines Deaf Critical Race Theory with a focus of racialized audism and the pedagogical and epistemological resistance strategies of Deaf Students of Color.
Sarahy Torres: First-Generation College Students
Sarahy Torres received her B.A. in Chicana/o and Central American Studies and Education from UCLA. She is a first-generation college student.
Lilia: Race, Cultural, and Ethnic Studies
Lilia is currently a PhD student at UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies studying Race, Cultural, and Ethnic Studies.
Yadira Valencia: Narratives of First-Generation Students
Yadira Valencia is a doctoral candidate in the Social Science and Comparative Education division (Race and Ethnic Studies specialization at UCLA SE&IS). She is a Graduate Student Researcher for the Research, Assessment, and Evaluation (RAE) division at the Academic Advancement Program (AAP). Through RAE she works alongside undergraduate students as they develop their research interests that centers the needs and experiences of AAP students.
Alumni Contributions to Education
UCLA alumni are making significant contributions to education as professors and researchers at various institutions.
Lluliana Alonso: Chicana/o Community Histories of Education
Lluliana Alonso is an Assistant Professor of Urban Education in the Liberal Studies Department at California State University Long Beach. Her research centers local Chicana/o community histories of education, specializing in the nexus between juvenile delinquency discourse and educational policy & practice in the first half of twentieth century.
Lorena Camargo Gonzalez: Women of Color in Academia
Lorena Camargo Gonzalez is an Assistant Professor of Undergraduate Studies in Education and Gender Equity at Sacramento State University. Her interdisciplinary research centers on the experiences of Women of Color in academic settings and explores the different forms of silence they encounter.
Magali: Race and Ethnic Studies
Magali received her doctoral degree in the Social Science and Comparative Education program with a Race and Ethnic Studies specialization at UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies. She works as a lecturer at California State University, Fullerton, in the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department.
Gabriela G. Corona Valencia: Eugenics and Sex Education
Dr. Gabriela G. Corona Valencia received her Ph.D. in Education, specializing in race, ethnic, and cultural studies from the School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. Her research explores the bridge between 20th-century eugenic policy in the American Southwest and the contemporary sex education discourse disseminated to Chicana/Latina girls in K-12 public schools in East Los Angeles.
Cindy R. Escobedo: Educational Inequities
Dr. Cindy R. Escobedo’s research, teaching, and professional passions explore the intersections of educational (in)equities, Student and Women of Color academic pathways, mother-daughter relationships, and the raced and gendered sociology of family. She is concurrently a Visiting Scholar for the Center for Critical Race Studies in Education at UCLA and serves as a Senior Research Consultant for the Peer Learning Unit within the UCLA Academic Advancement Program (AAP).
Tanya J. Gaxiola Serrano: Racialized Inequities in Education
Dr. Tanya J. Gaxiola Serrano is Associate Professor in Administration, Rehabilitation and Postsecondary Education (ARPE) at San Diego State University. Her research explores the racialized inequities faced by Communities of Color when navigating educational and border spaces, as well as conceptualizes critical methodological approaches in higher education.
Elizabeth González Cárdenas: Chicana and Chicano Studies
Dr. Elizabeth González Cárdenas is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at the University of New Mexico. Her research demonstrates that Chicana Chicano Studies provides culturally relevant support towards students when obtaining their baccalaureate degrees and is key in their academic success.
Tonia Guida: Student Success Programs
Dr. Tonia Guida is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pharmacy Practice at The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy. She has over 10 years of experience as a higher education scholar practitioner working with student success programs, undergraduate research, pre-college outreach, study abroad, Summer Bridge Programs, and Inclusive Teaching & Learning.
‘Inoke Hafoka: Pacific Studies
‘Inoke Hafoka is currently an Assistant Professor and Program Lead of Pacific Studies at BYU-Hawaii. His research interests includes: diaspora, identity, migration, race, education, knowledge production, revitalization / re-imagination, sports, talanoa.
Michaela Mares-Tamayo: Experiences of Students and Communities of Color
Michaela Mares-Tamayo received her Ph.D. in Race and Ethnic Studies in Education at UCLA. Her research brings together the epistemological strengths and methodological tools of critical race theory in education, history, and Ethnic Studies to document the experiences of Students and Communities of Color in local school districts over time.
Socorro Morales: Racial and Gender Inequities in Education
Dr. Socorro Morales is currently an Assistant Professor in the Educational Leadership Department at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Her research interests include racial and gender (in)equities in education, specifically for Chicanx.
Audrey Pak: Volleyball, Travel, and Personal Life
Beyond the volleyball court, Audrey Pak embodies a well-rounded lifestyle, balancing athletic commitments with personal interests and community engagement.
Summer Vacation in Honolulu
UCLA volleyball star Audrey Pak enjoyed a relaxing summer in Honolulu, Hawaii, before the season began. She shared pictures from the vacation, including one of her wearing a brown bikini, taking a selfie in the ocean with friends and family. “So much to be grateful for,” she captioned the Instagram post.
Culinary Preferences
Pak enjoys Korean rice bowls from her favorite Westwood restaurant Gogobop, near the UCLA campus.
Travel and Cultural Experiences
Pak fully embraced the food and culture during a trip to Croatia, sharing large carafes of red wine with friends. Pak loves to travel, which research shows offers many benefits beyond just being fun. “Traveling for pleasure can contribute to subjective well-being because people have more opportunities to detach from their work environment, to experience new things, and to control what they want to do during vacations,” says Paul Simeone, PhD, Vice President and Medical Director of Behavioral Health with Lee Health.
Community Engagement
Pak has spent at least three trips volunteering in Mexico.
Health and Wellness
Pak is a confident swimmer, both in the pool and in the ocean.
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