Admitted failure

UC schools should increase diversity efforts

The news last Tuesday that minority acceptances to the University of California plunged has cast an ominous shadow over the University's admissions policies. In the first year that the University of California system has not used race as a factor in its undergraduate admissions process, its Berkeley campus will see a 65-percent drop in the number of black students in its first-year class. California's unfortunate fate provides a clear vision of what may happen at the University of Michigan if affirmative action proponents lose their fight. For the sake of the University and society as a whole, affirmative action must remain strong in Michigan. The University cannot afford to follow the UC system in becoming ethnically unrepresentative of the nation's population.

In 1995, the UC Board of Regents banned the use of racial preferences, and a year later, the passage of proposition 209 - a statewide referendum - eliminated the use of affirmative action in public institutions across the state. The results of these actions are in, and the nation can see that without affirmative action, college campuses will lose one of the aspects most crucial to the strength of their educational missions - diversity.

Although the University of California has hit a speed bump in keeping its campus diverse, there is still hope for the University of Michigan. Residential College Prof. Carl Cohen, state Sen. David Jaye (R-Macomb) and the Center for Individual Rights, among others, are all intent upon removing the University's primary mechanism used to support campus diversity. But there are numerous ways to work against these actions. The University must continue to defend its admissions policies and act as a spokesperson for affirmative action across the country. Administrators have handled the two lawsuits challenging the University's admissions policies with precision and diligence. Students also should continue to express their voices through constructive dialogues, rallies and educational events. The University administration must defend its policies in court and work to counteract efforts to end affirmative action.

In light of the UC system's upsetting admissions results, their admissions offices should employ other methods to promote diversity. The University of California should first increase its recruitment efforts at high schools with large minority populations. It should also consider altering its admissions criteria so that more minority students will be accepted. By minimizing the role of quantitative measures such as SAT scores play in admissions decision and increasing the weight of socioeconomic status, essays, extra-curricular activities and personal experiences, minority enrollment would probably rise. In addition, California should evaluate programs that other schools have implemented in lieu of affirmative action admissions policies such as the University of Texas' policy of allowing the top 10 percent of every high school senior class to attend the public school of their choice. The UC regents have already discussed using a top four-percent standard, and high school counselors in Texas say the policy is working.

This past Thursday, more than 300 Berkeley students blocked a busy intersection with a sit in, calling for Chancellor Berdahl to defy Proposition 209. Although Berdahl cannot be expected to break the law, his promise to "make sure the effects are minimized" should help ameliorate the situation. What has occurred at Berkeley should act as a portent for all University students, faculty and administrators. Affirmative action's departure could leave the University in shambles as it has done in California.

04-07-98