This sub-page is devoted to investigating the aftermath of the passing of Proposition
209 -- the elimination of affirmative action programs -- in California in November
of 1996. As students, faculty members, administrators, and even universities,
continue to speak out both for and against its passage, this page will be continually
updated so as to register these shifts in public and private opinion. Two governing
questions for this sub-page of the Affirmative Action and Diversity Project
are these: How are those most affected by this proposition reacting to all of
the juridical decisions, and to various elections? What will the implications
be for California and for the nation as a whole?
Also, viewers might want to cross-reference the News
and Announcements page for an up-to-date chronology of Prop 209 news items.
This page last revised November 28, 2001.
News and Campaigns
November 14, 2002: The president of the University of California system, Richard C. Atkinson, who sought changes in college admissions tests, announced today that he would retire on Oct. 1. Dr. Atkinson, 73, has been president of the university for seven years. See article University of California President Says He Will Resign Next Year and an editorial Atkinson Admired for Diplomatic Skills, Consensus Building
October 30, 2002: Chang-Lin Tien, who as chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, was the first Asian-American to head a major U.S. university, has died. He was 67. Tien, an engineering professor who served seven years as chancellor, died Tuesday, Berkeley officials said. See article Former UC-Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien Dies
October 13, 2002: In gender and racial makeup, Gov. Gray Davis' appointees who require Senate approval are not much different from those of Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican criticized by minorities for his opposition to affirmative action and illegal immigration, Senate records show. See article Davis' Picks
August 30: 2002: The California Supreme Court has backed a father who argued that a Huntington Beach Union High School District policy limiting student transfers on the basis of race violates state law. High Court Scraps Racial Limits in School Transfers
August 15, 2002: Patrick Chavis, one of five black students whose admission to a medical school in California 30 years ago provoked a Supreme Court battle over affirmative action, died on July 23 in Hawthorne, Calif. He was 50. Mr. Chavis, whose medical license was revoked five years ago for malpractice, was fatally shot as he returned to his car after buying an ice cream cone in Hawthorne, a suburb of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.Patrick Chavis, 50, Affirmative Action Figure, Is Dead
August 4, 2002: At UC Berkeley, where I teach, we are awaiting the arrival of the first freshman class selected under a revised admissions policy for the University of California schools. All applicants are being evaluated according to whether they have survived "hardships," with those who have done so netting extra points. It Shouldn't Be Good to Have It Bad
May 1, 2002: California voters -- by a nearly 3-to-2 ratio -- favor a proposed ballot measure that would largely prohibit state and local governments from classifying people by race or ethnicity, according to a new Field Poll. The proposal by University of California Regent Ward Connerly is considered an extension of Proposition 209, his successful anti-affirmative action measure, and could once again inject heated debate over race into a gubernatorial election.
Race Privacy Measure Ahead in Field Poll; Ah, Color Blindness? Connerly's Deceptive Vision
April 20, 2002: Supporters of the so-called Racial Privacy Initiative have turned in what may be enough petitions to qualify for the November election ballot. If not, the measure almost certainly would qualify for the March 2004 primary. Irrelevance of Race
April 19, 2002: University of California Regent Ward Connerly plans to submit nearly a million voter signatures today for a ballot measure that would bar state and local governments, including schools, from collecting race-based information. Connerly, the conservative icon and author of the 1996 initiative that dismantled affirmative action, said his Racial Privacy Initiative would prevent the collection of information on race or ethnic heritage. Backers Say Race Data Ban Has Qualified
April 5, 2002: The University of California has admitted a greater proportion of underrepresented minority students for the fall 2002 freshman class than it did for the entering class in 1997, university administrators said yesterday. It was after 1997 that the ban on affirmative action in admissions was instituted, prompting a decline in such enrollments. UC Admitting More Minority Applicants
April 3, 2002: When America's best symphony orchestras evaluate potential musicians, the candidates audition "blind"; they play their instruments behind a screen so the auditioning committee does not know the musicians' race, sex or appearance but only hears the quality of their performance. . . . Auditions are thus an honest meritocracy, and better symphonies are the result. Now comes California's newest ballot proposition: the Racial Privacy Initiative. Colorblindness is Golden
December 26, 2001: Saying the nation is ready to move past labeling people by their color or origin, supporters of a proposed ballot initiative are seeking to stop governments in California from collecting racial data and classifying people into racial categories. Affirmative Action Foe is Targeting Racial Data in California
November 29, 2001: The University of California has filled a position that is central to its efforts to attract and admit minorities without affirmative action. UCLA Vice Chancellor Winston Doby has been appointed the new vice president for educational outreach for the UC system, replacing an interim appointee, UC Irvine Vice Chancellor Manuel Gomez.UC System Hires Chief of Minority Outreach
November 26, 2001: University of California President Richard Atkinson made national headlines when he proposed that the university drop the long-standing SAT I admission requirement. In a speech to the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, he added that UC faculty members are considering replacing the SAT I with two additional SAT II tests.Change SAT? Not so Fast
November 20, 2001: Figures released yesterday by the University of California at Berkeley show a jump in student population that is angering city officials and threatening to violate an enrollment-cap agreement. The fall enrollment data also showed more minority freshmen over last year, except for African Americans. Enrollment Jump Upsets Berkeley
November 15, 2001: The University of California is poised to change the admissions process today for incoming students -- some of whom have already submitted their applications, which are due by the end of the month. Some students and counselors, who have spent the past four years preparing to be judged just on academics, were taken by surprise that a broader set of standards is likely to be put in place. UC Regents Set to Alter Admissions;UC May Consider 'Hardships' in Admission
October 31, 2001: The Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court do not seem to know how to go about answering the question whether affirmative action programs are constitutional. They do not even know how to pick the right case. But deciding which cases to decide is every bit as important as deciding them. Affirmative Action or Reverse Discrimination?
October 25, 2001: In an attempt to increase diversity without considering race, the San Francisco Board of Education approved new admissions plans for two of the city's top public high schools. S.F. School Board OKs Diversity Plan
October 17, 2001: The University of California Regents will discuss a controversial proposal today that would institute a broad definition of merit in its admissions process. Currently, campuses are required to admit at least half of their students based purely on academic criteria -- grades, scores and classes taken. UC Admissions Policy Again on Regents' Minds and UC Regents Ask for Research on Admissions Plan
September 20, 2001: A highly touted new admissions program that was expected to expand access to the University of California, particularly for disadvantaged and minority students, has been delayed indefinitely because of a shortage of funds. Plan to expand UC admissions postponed
September 11, 2001: An internal audit for the University of California says that UC San Diego will have to raise an extra $1 million to pay for obligations incurred in a now-canceled scholarship program that the UC attorneys conclude illegally targeted under-represented minorities. Illegal Scholarships Costly to UC San Diego
September 7, 2001: The State Court of Appeals this week may have provided some finality to California's ban on affirmative action. It unanimously denied state agencies the tools necessary to identify and change racially skewed hiring patterns. The court concluded that five state laws designed to help women and minorities learn about and compete for state jobs and contracts are invalid under Proposition 209, the 1996 anti-affirmative action measure. See article Legally Blind to the Problem.
July 23, 2001: In the latest fallout from the state ban on affirmative
action, the University of California at San Diego has been warned by UC's attorneys
that one of its scholarship programs may be illegal because it is designed to
attract underrepresented minority students. The school's "Millennium Scholarships"
were awarded in 2000 and 2001 to 89 students with money from private donors.
See article UC San
Diego Told Scholarships May Be Illegal Under Prop 209.
July 20, 2001: The University of California Board of Regents approved a dramatic change to the university's admissions policy yesterday that is expected to increase enrollments of disadvantaged and minority students. The "dual admissions" program, which comes six years after UC banned affirmative action, is the latest in a series of proposals by UC President Richard Atkinson to expand ways for more students -- particularly African American, Latino and Native American students -- to gain access to the university. See article UC Widens Chance of Gaining Admission.
July 13, 2001: In a 1996 referendum, California voters outlawed racial preferences. Or did they? At the University of California, a lovely backdoor has been found for beating the ban. The maneuver appears wholly innocuous. Who, after all, would complain if UC decided to give the SAT II twice as much weight as the SAT I in determining college admission? See editorial Affirmative Action Fails Again.
May 17, 2001: After fueling a ballot initiative that outlawed state-sponsored affirmative action and igniting a national debate, the University of California regents Wednesday unanimously repealed their 1995 ban on racial preferences. See article UC Regents Repeal Ban on Racial Preferences.
May 16, 2001: 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. See article: UC Regents' Symbolic Step to Spur Change in Admissions: AFFIRMATIVE ACTION POLICIES REPEALED.
May 16, 2001: A consensus that was to bring closure to the divisive issue of affirmative action at the University of California was unraveling on the eve of a crucial vote by the UC Board of Regents. Democratic and Latino legislators and civil rights advocates called yesterday for a full repeal of SP-1 and SP-2, the 1995 resolutions barring the use of racial and gender preferences in admissions and hiring. See article Critics say plan fails to counter image of bias.
May 15, 2001: A group of 18 prominent Latino faculty members Monday called on the University of California's Board of Regents to repeal its 1995 ban on affirmative action and drop the tiered admission system that requires 50-75 percent of each entering class to be admitted based solely on academics.
May 13, 2001: After years of student protests and pressure from the state Legislature, the University of California regents plan this week to reconsider their ban on affirmative action. See article, New Debate on UC Race Preference.
May 10, 2001: Acknowledging that controversy over affirmative action may have damaged the university's reputation, a powerful coalition of regents is backing a symbolic move to abandon the University of California's historic 1995 ban on racial preferences. Their proposal would not reinstate affirmative action in UC hiring and admissions. Instead, it would replace the regents' 6-year-old policies with language simply affirming that the system will follow the state constitution -- as amended in 1996 by Proposition 209 -- and treat all students, employees and contractors equally, without regard to race. See article UC Drafts Symbolic Shift on Admissions.
May 8, 2001: In a state where there is no longer a majority racial or ethnic group, some are asking whether there is a future for the word ``minority.'' Census figures released in March showed non-Hispanic whites make up 47 percent of California's population - the first time whites were not in the majority since the census began to keep accurate numbers.
April 14, 2001: An initiative drive that would prohibit the state from collecting racial data on individuals has sparked opposition from civil rights organizations. Ward Connerly, a University of California regent who championed the end of affirmative action, began collecting signatures this week to put an initiative on the March ballot that would outlaw tracking race in everything from university admissions to the makeup of school districts. See Connerly Starts Push.
April 4, 2001: The percentage of minority students admitted to the University of California has nearly reached affirmative action levels, according to figures released Tuesday. In addition, the system admitted 10 percent more Californians than last year. Of the students the UC system admitted for the fall 2001 freshman class, 18.6 percent were African-American, Latino, Chicano and American Indian. That's a percentage point increase over last year and just shy of 1997's 18.8 percent, the last time the university used racial preferences in admissions. See articles UC Makes the Grade for Minority Students and Minority College Enrollment Rising.
The University of California announced Tuesday that it has accepted a record number of Latinos and has significantly increased admissions among African Americans for next fall's freshman class. But numbers for the two minority groups remain depressed at the two most competitive campuses, UC Berkeley and UCLA. See article Numbers of Blacks, Latinos Admitted to UC System Rise.
March 15, 2001: An angry crowd of University of California students, after demanding that UC regents rescind a 1995 ban on affirmative action in admissions, took over a hall at UCLA yesterday in an effort to gain leverage for their cause. The tactic worked: They forced the cancellation of a mayoral debate, former Speaker of the Assembly Antonio Villaraigosa pledged to intercede on their behalf, and student regent Justin Fong agreed to get the matter on the agenda of the regents' next meeting, in May. Villaraigosa and Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles, two of the candidates running for Los Angeles mayor, turned out to support the students after they took over Royce Hall in the late afternoon. See article Protesters Slam UC Admissions Policy, Noisy UCLA crowd storms hall, calls for reversal of affirmative action ban.
March 9, 2001: Thousands of students rallied Thursday at the University of California-Berkeley to demand that the UC system reverse its ban on affirmative action. But before the noon rally even began, fights unrelated to the affirmative action debate broke out between rival high school students who had gathered for the event, and Telegraph Avenue became a whirlwind of flying fists and running students. See article Thousands at UC-Berkeley Rally for Affirmative Action.
About 2,000 high school and college students converged on the University of California at Berkeley campus yesterday, calling on UC regents to repeal their ban on affirmative action in admissions. The rally at Sproul Plaza -- the scene of innumerable protests ever since the tumultuous 1960s -- was marred by some looting and violence as demonstrators marched through downtown Berkeley to demand that the regents take action at their meeting in Los Angeles next week, before the May 1 deadline for entering freshmen to declare their intent to enroll for this fall. See article UC Protest Rips Policy on Minorities.
A lunchtime rally demanding the return of affirmative action got out of hand this afternoon. A thousand people were protesting at U.C. Berkeley when a sizable splinter group broke off, starting fights and vandalizing stores. An unruly crows of about 150 high school students got out of control and raced down Telegraph Avenue before the noontime rally was to begin. See article Affirmative Action Rally Turns Ugly.
Protest organizers are calling the March 8 affirmative action rally on the UC Berkeley campus the largest since the UC Regents banned the use of ethnicity in admissions decisions. While UC police estimated the crowd at just over 1,000, organizers say that 6,000 people descended on Berkeley as part of the statewide protest. See article Class Action Rally Demonstrates Growing Opposition to UC Affirmative Action Ban.
March 6, 2001: San Francisco school officials will keep hundreds of high school students and teachers in class Thursday rather than send them to Berkeley to rally for affirmative action. San Francisco Unified School District had planned to send as many as 500 students and teachers to the University of California at Berkeley on Thursday to rally for racial preferences in college admissions, as The Chronicle reported yesterday. See article S.F. Cancels Plans to Send Kids to Rally
March 5, 2001: The San Francisco Board of Education wants its high school students to skip school Thursday to show support for its pet cause: affirmative action. The board unanimously approved an emergency resolution last week, and hundreds of students and teachers, instead of spending a day of reading and writing, are expected to volunteer to be bused to the University of California at Berkeley to rally for racial preferences. See article S.F. Schools Urge Kids to Skip for Rally.
March 2, 2001: UC Berkeley students who help recruit minorities to the school threatened Thursday to actively discourage them from enrolling if regents don't repeal their ban against affirmative action this month. Saying they're tired of trying to diversify the campus without the university's support, students who staff campus recruitment and retention centers told a crowd of more than 200 that prospective minority students should know the "truth" -- that the university doesn't welcome them. (See article California Activists: CAN THE BAN)
February 17, 2001: The president of the University of California has recommended dropping the main SAT as an admission requirement at its eight campuses, saying the test is an unfair measurement of students' abilities. The development could affect the way high school students in California and across the nation prepare for college. The University of California system is one of the nation's largest, with 170,000 students. Richard C. Atkinson was to announce his recommendation in a speech to the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. (See also related articles on the Dropping of the SAT and Its Relation to Affirmative Action in California.)
February 11, 2001: BAMN (The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration By Any Means Necessary) calls for a California Statewide Declaration of Action on March 8th to Reverse the Ban on Affirmative Action NOW! See related BAMN sites: Reverse the Ban NOW!; Professors Declare Support.
February 8, 2001: Since a voter-approved ban of affirmative action programs in the state, there has been an unexpected and dramatic drop in the percentage of female faculty hired at the University of California. In the 1995-96 academic year, women were 35.8 percent of UC's hires, but in the 1999-2000 academic year, after the passage of Proposition 209 and a UC Regents resolution ending the use of affirmative action, 25.1 percent of faculty hires were women. (See article "Faculty Gender Gap is Growing" San Francisco Chonicle).
February 1, 2001: A group of students hoping to roll back the University of California ban on affirmative action were out at UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza today, gathering signatures and momentum for an upcoming march. "There's been a growing movement, not just here," said student activist Ronald Cruz. "Reversing the ban in the very place where the attack on affirmative action started will inspire the nation." KPIX article. For more information on actions to restore affirmative action and UC Berkeley see also recent BAMN News.
January 31, 2001: Minority Applications to UC Rise: Blacks and Latinos post double-digit percentage increases. Figures counter concerns about affirmative action's end, but also reflect changing ethnic makeup of high schools. Record numbers of black and Latino high school seniors have applied to the University of California, marking a turnaround for the university, where administrators worried that minority students would no longer feel welcome because of a ban on affirmative action.
January 9, 2001: The University of California Board of Regents may consider, possibly as soon as March, overturning its 1995 policy that barred the use of affirmative action in university admissions. While the move is largely symbolic since a voter-approved statewide ban on racial preferences would remain in place, leaders of the effort said it could help the system attract more minority students. See article in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
April 4, 2000: The University of California announces that the number of minority students admitted to the freshman class has exceeded that of 1997, the last year that affirmative action was used in the admissions process. But the number of black and Hispanic students admitted to the most-competitive and elite UC campuses continues to lag behind, supporting the claim that the system is evolving in a two-tier, racially segregated manner.Click here for New York Times article.
December 8, 1999: Issues of race and racism are swirling at the University of California at Berkeley, stirred up by the imminent departures of two Hispanic professors and protests over the future of the ethnic studies department.
August 20, 1999: California Democrats set goals for diverse convention in 2000. Click here for Miami Herald news story.
July 28, 1999: In a blow to affirmative action, Gov. Gray Davis on Wednesday
vetoed a bill that would have declared outreach programs for minorities and
women permissible despite Proposition 209, a voter-approved ban on preferential
treatment by government based on race or gender. Click
here for complete story.
A branch of the ACLU is suing the state of California for
not providing all high-school students with equal access to Advanced Placement
courses. The class action charges that black, Hispanic, and low-income students
who attend high schools with few A.P. offerings are at a disadvantage in applying
to colleges that consider those classes when deciding whether to admit students.
Also on July 28, a federal judge rules that the University of
Wisconsin's affirmative-action plan did not justify its use of race as a determining
factor in a faculty-hiring decision. Finally, the National Research Council
releases a report noting that colleges should be wary of relying too heavily
on standardized-test scores in admissions and more candid about the criteria
they use to admit students.
July 5, 1999: In California, minority students are "cascading" out of top schools and into the second tier. Is this good for them? Click here for Time Magazine news story.
May 1, 1998: The Oakland teachers union (Oakland Education Association), the Associated Students of UC-Berkeley (ASUC), Professors Ron Takaki and Bill Banks, BAMN, and UC-Berkeley Black Student Union, sponsor a rally at the UC Office of the President in Oakland in order to call for the immediate admission of the 800 underrepresented minority applicants with 4.0+ GPAs who were denied admission to UC-Berkeley because of the repeal of affirmative action.
April 1998: 1998's Admissions Figures Make Visible the Impact Affirmative Action had on UC–from Notice, the publication of the Academic Senate of the University of California.
April 12, 1998: A press release announces that the ballot drive will continue for the Equal Educational Opportunity Initiative. EEOI organizers will continue to collect signatures through June 20.
April 4, 2000: Three years after race-based admission policies were abolished at the University of California, the number of black, Hispanic and American Indian freshmen who will enter next fall has rebounded to above what it was when affirmative action measures were in place. Click here for New York Times article.
Tuesday, March 17, 1998: UC Irvine, San Diego and Davis report declines in first year after affirmative action was banned. Two less selective campuses show increases.
Tuesday, November 4, 1997: Voters in Houston pass an initiative in favor of continuing affirmative action (roughly 55 percent for and 45 percent against).
Monday, November 3, 1997: In a long-awaited move, the Supreme Court
refuses to hear an appeal case on Proposition 209 and lets the decisions of
the lower courts stand, which means that the prohibition on affirmative action
in California has been upheld. This was not a decision by the Supreme
Court and it arguably does not set a national precedent. However, one should
note that the House Judiciary Committee is set to continue its work on legislation
similar to Proposition 209. This legislation would ban the federal government
from granting preferences in hiring, contracting and other programs. Anti-affirmative
action drives and ballot initiatives also abound in Washington state, Houston,
and Michigan.
Mark Rosenbaum of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern
California denounces the court's action: "For the first time in our
nation's history, state and local governments have been stripped of their authority
to remedy race and gender discrimination...[California is] for the time being,
at least, the only state unwilling to stand up and take strong measures against
gender and race discrimination within its borders." Martha Davis of the
NOW Legal Defense and Educational Fund argues that "the last thing we want
is to hold up California as a model. I think it would be disastrous if Proposition
209 were exported to other states."
Student Responses
Faculty Responses
Administrative Responses
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