UC
regents' symbolic step to spur change in admissions UC
regents' symbolic step to spur change in admissions
AFFIRMATIVE-ACTION POLICIES REPEALED
Wednesday, May 16, 2001
BY BECKY BARTINDALE Mercury News
In a feat of last-minute diplomacy, University of California regents put aside their political differences Wednesday, rescinding two 1995 policies that ended affirmative action at the university. At the same time, they paved the way for potentially significant changes in admissions for the class entering the UC system in fall 2002.
The unanimous vote by 22 regents was followed by a standing ovation from students and others in the audience, and hugs and high-fives among jubilant regents. In 1995, some of the same regents were in tears. The regents' action did not restore racial preferences in admissions, hiring and contracting, which now are forbidden by state law, but many felt it removed a stain from the university's reputation. Critics had blamed the 1995 policies for the dramatic drop in Latino and black students at the university's most prestigious campuses.
``The action we take here today is more than symbolic,'' said Regent William Bagley, who had pushed nearly six years for Wednesday's reconsideration of the policies. ``It is a message to the academic community and the world that we are no longer the sponsors of a national movement'' against affirmative action. ``This gives a clear message to every student in this state that the University of California is about higher education and welcomes every student in this state,'' said Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, one of the regents who had urged the board to take a strong stand.
Two-tier system Bustamante said he hoped that the Academic Senate would bring regents a recommendation within the year to eliminate UC's current two-tier admission system. That approach -- also imposed by regents in 1995 -- requires campuses to admit 50 to 75 percent of each class strictly on the basis of academics, such as grade-point average and test scores, without regard to each applicant's individual circumstances.
If changes in admission policies aren't made for students entering in fall 2002, the resolution adopted Wednesday would continue the guidelines, which include the 50-to-75-percent requirement. ``For students, this is a huge victory,'' said student Regent Justin Fong, who pushed hard over the last week for repeal of the 1995 policies. The university should do everything it can within the law to welcome underrepresented students, he said. ``We want them. We need them,'' he said. ``They deserve to be here.''
Regent Ward Connerly, author of the 1995 measures that regents wiped off the books Wednesday, said he agreed to go along with the change to accommodate others who believe the university's anti-affirmative-action stance has hurt its reputation. ``I, as much as anyone else, want to do what's right for the university,'' he said. `We have to move on' The most important idea embodied in the rescinded policies -- equal opportunity for everyone -- has been ``tucked away in the lockbox of the California Constitution,'' he said, referring to Proposition 209.
``We have to move on,'' he said. ``We're spending enough energy on this that we could light up the city of Los Angeles for weeks.'' The vote to rescind the policies known as SP-1 and SP-2 followed a day of intense behind-the-scenes negotiations that began when a compromise proposal began to unravel. The compromise had been backed by both Bagley and Connerly, who have been antagonists in the debate.
Regent Judith Hopkinson, who had been working on the compromise for several months, consulted with Connerly and Bagley again Tuesday, when it became evident a large number of regents would not support the compromise. At the same time, President Richard Atkinson consulted with lawmakers, who said the resolution did not send a clear message that students of all races, ethnicities and backgrounds are welcome at the university. While earlier versions of the resolution would ``supersede'' or ``replace'' SP-1 and SP-2, the version regents adopted said the two standing policies are ``rescinded.''
The resolution also affirms the role of the Academic Senate in setting admission criteria. In the past few days, a number of prominent legislators, including Bustamante and Speaker Robert Hertzberg, had come out against the compromise and in support of a complete repeal, as Fong proposed. Wednesday, Hopkinson acknowledged their role in convincing regents that they needed to make a stronger statement.
Civil rights groups including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education also had opposed the earlier version. Several hundred students from UC campuses around the state turned out for the meeting in San Francisco to speak to regents or protest outside. Patricia Alcala, a junior at UCLA, traveled in a van all night with her 9-year-old sister to rally as the regents met.
``I wanted to be here because I'm fighting for a cause -- to let my little sister into the university,'' Alcala said. Repealing the 1995 policies, she said, ``will increase the number of minority students in the university.'' In the end, Connerly said, regents decided it was time to stop fighting among themselves. The thinking was, ``Let's not get mired in our own personal views,'' Connerly said. ``Let's not let our egos get in the way of solving this problem.''
Contact Becky Bartindale at bbartindale@sjmercury.com or (408) 920-5659.
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