Regents rally for diversity * Repeal of the 1995 ban on racial
preferences would be a 'symbolic step' toward making UC more accessible, advocates
say Regents rally for diversity * Repeal of the 1995 ban on racial
preferences would be a 'symbolic step' toward making UC more accessible, advocates
say
February 18, 2001
By Carrie Sturrock
Contra Costa TIMES STAFF WRITER
University of California regents leading a charge to overturn the board's ban on racial preferences in admissions think they may succeed this spring. Although Proposition 209 would still prohibit race-based affirmative action by the state, advocates say repealing the 1995 ban would be an important symbolic step in welcoming African-American, Latino and American Indian students whose enrollment numbers have dropped at the system's most selective schools.
It's one in a series of efforts to make the university more appealing and accessible to students from a variety of backgrounds. On Friday, UC President Richard Atkinson proposed eliminating the SAT requirement for admission to the university's eight undergraduate campuses. "We were the genesis of the political movement that's moved across the United States," said regent Bill Bagley, an attorney and Republican appointee of Gov. George Deukmejian.
"Every time the cause is taken up the university is identified as having spawned it. All I want to do is rescind the resolution so our reputation is repaired." With the board's current makeup, Bagley thinks he's closer than ever to having a decisive majority. But should the issue arise at the May meeting as Bagley says it might, it promises to generate serious debate. Regent Irene Miura, who was not on the board in 1995, has questions about the benefits of repealing the ban.
Affirmative action advocates who interpreted it as a sign that minorities aren't welcome didn't understand the board's intention, she said. "We've done everything since then, by outreach programs and helping students prepare for the university to say 'Of course you're welcome, but we want you on the basis of your qualifications not on the basis of your race,'" said Miura, a professor at San Jose State University. In 1995, the regents voted 14-10 to end racial preferences in admissions and 15-10 to end them in hiring and promotion.
The makeup of the board has changed since then. Seven of the members who voted to end affirmative action have left and two more will have their terms expire in March. Six who voted to keep affirmative action also have left. But Democrat Gov. Gray Davis, himself a regent who voted to keep affirmative action in 1995, has appointed five new regents since he took office. "I'm convinced we have the votes for a clear majority," said regent Justin Fong, a UCLA graduate student.
He wants the ban lifted as early as the March meeting, the month when students receive their admissions letters. "It's the right time to send the right message to minority students," he said. The Times called all 26 regents Friday; six were available or made statements through a representative. Of those, four indicated they would vote to repeal the ban including Bagley, Atkinson, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and Fong. Miura has questions about the proposal but wants to hear more.
Regent John Davies, a San Diego attorney, said he supports the ban. "I continue to think racial preferences are wrong." Since 1994, the year before the regents' decision, enrollment of California resident underrepresented minorities has decreased from 21 percent of the freshman class systemwide to 16 percent in 1999, the most recent systemwide enrollment figure available. At UC Berkeley, the percentage of underrepresented minorities in the entire freshman class dropped from 24 percent in 1995 to 13 percent in 2000. But UC officials are heartened by a systemwide increase in underrepresented minority California resident freshman applicants for fall 2001.
The system had 11,739 apply, the largest number ever and a 13 percent increase over the year before. It remains to be seen how many actually enroll. Now that the University of California can't use race in admissions, schools such as Berkeley are admitting only the top tier of underrepresented minority students, Miura said. The challenge comes in convincing those students to enroll. "These are the students you want anyway," she said.
"It's now focusing our energies instead of resting on our laurels and saying 'We have enough diversity.' It's a challenge but a real welcome one." If the board rescinds the entire resolution that banned race-based affirmative action, it could have more than just symbolic effects. In addition to the ban on racial preferences, the resolution states that the university will admit no less than 50 percent and no more than 75 percent on academic criteria alone.
Rescinding that would allow the university to be more comprehensive in its admissions process, Fong said. Schools could pay more attention to essays, leadership, socioeconomic background and special circumstances. The makeup of the board has changed in recent years, but Miura hopes the new regents approach the issue carefully. "If you weren't at the table before as a regent, I think it's your responsibility to go with an open mind and hear both sides. I think it would be a long and protracted discussion."
Carrie Sturrock covers higher education. Reach her at 925-943-8155 or csturrock@cctimes.com.
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