"UC 209 protesters blockade building"

Santa Barbara News-Press, November 12, 1996

Students blockaded the administration building Monday at the University of California in an affirmative action protest, and claimed victory despite 20 arrests.

The noisy but peaceful protest by an estimated 150 people broke up in the early afternoon after Chancellor Raymond L. Orbach met twice with demonstrators and made assurances that the school would continue to promote diversity.

However, he refused to sign a letter ester saying he personally opposed Proposition 209.

The voter-approved proposition bans the use of race and gender as considerations in public hiring, contracting and education. Its passage prompted the 'UC system to announce it will stop using such admission considerations for the 1997 fall semester.

(Back to top)
(AAD Homepage)

Carl Gutierrez-Jones
Department of English
University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106
E-mail: carlgj@humanitas.ucsb.edu