Source: National Association of Chicano and Chicano Studies (NAACS)
-----Original Message-----
Subject: UC President Atkinson Comments on Diversity, Affirmative Action
Alex Ortega
Regional Coordinator
Early Academic Outreach Program
University of California, Riverside
Subject: FW: UC President Atkinson Comments on
Diversity, Affirmative Action
Diversity: Not There Yet
By Richard C. Atkinson
The Washington Post, April 20, 2003
In the weeks leading up to the Supreme Court's hearing
on affirmative action, the public University of
California system was depicted alternately as a
dramatic success or a dismal failure in its efforts to
enroll Latino and African American students after the
elimination of race and ethnicity as factors in
student admissions.
The truth lies somewhere in between. But as a
university president who took office just after the
decision in California to disallow consideration of
race and ethnicity in university admissions -- and as
one who retires a few months from now -- I have
concluded that we are still not doing a good enough
job of providing access for the full diversity of
students in our state.
California is a rapidly diversifying society. In 1990,
34 percent of the state's public school students were
Latinos; in 2000, the figure was 43 percent, and by
2010 it is projected to be 52 percent. Against this
backdrop of stunning demographic change stands a
public school system characterized by vast disparities
in educational opportunity. There are many excellent
public high schools, each of which sends dozens of
graduates to the UC system each year. Meanwhile, there
are many schools that send hardly any students to UC.
The impact of educational disadvantage is evident in
students' eligibility rates for the UC system, which
are defined by high school grades and standardized
test scores. The most recent study found that 30
percent of Asian American students in California and
13 percent of white students met UC eligibility
requirements; the figure was a disheartening 4 percent
for Latinos and 3 percent for African Americans.
The university always has sought to maintain the
highest possible academic standards while providing
the broadest possible access to California students.
We have pursued both excellence and diversity because
we believe they are inextricably linked, and because
we know that an institution that ignores either of
them runs the risk of becoming irrelevant in a state
with the knowledge-based economy and tremendously
varied population of California.
The UC system in an earlier period took account of
race and ethnicity in its admissions process. Latino,
African American and Native American applicants were
identified as "underrepresented minority" students,
reflecting these groups' low eligibility rates
traditionally, and that factor was taken into account
in the admissions process. But a contentious vote of
the Board of Regents in 1995, followed by a statewide
initiative passed by California voters in 1996, ended
that practice.
In its place, UC launched a greatly intensified
program of outreach to public schools, working in
partnership to improve academic performance and
college eligibility in schools that traditionally sent
few students to UC. We took on a vastly expanded role
in providing professional development for K-12
teachers. And we made changes in our admissions
process -- such as granting UC eligibility to the top
4 percent of students in every California high school
-- that, while not aimed specifically at diversity,
have had the effect of expanding UC access for
educationally disadvantaged students.
What have been the results for underrepresented
minority students? In some respects, the story is
encouraging. After an initial drop, these students
have represented an increasing proportion of the UC
entering class in each of the past four years. This
year the absolute number of underrepresented minority
freshmen at UC campuses exceeds the number enrolled
before race and ethnicity were eliminated as
admissions considerations.
But the story is troubling in at least two respects.
First, the proportions of underrepresented minority
students at UC's more selective campuses --
particularly UC Berkeley and UCLA -- remain far below
their previous levels. Second, the gap between the
percentage of underrepresented minority students in
the California graduating high school class and the
percentage in the UC freshman class has widened
appreciably.
In 1995, 38 percent of California public high school
graduates were underrepresented minority students, as
were 21 percent of UC freshmen -- a gap of 17
percentage points. In 2002, however, the figures were
42 percent in the statewide high school graduating
class and 18 percent in the UC freshman class -- a gap
of 24 percentage points. Gains in minority admissions
at UC are not closing this gap, because the diversity
of the California high school population continues to
grow.
What we do about this is a source of real concern. We
must continue our efforts to help close the
achievement gap in the public schools. We must
continue refining our admissions policies to ensure
that they reward high achievement and yet recognize
that high achievement can be demonstrated in different
ways in different educational settings.
But I offer California as a cautionary tale to the
rest of the nation. Our experience to date shows that
if race cannot be factored into admissions decisions
at all, the ethnic diversity of an elite public
institution such as the University of California may
fall well behind that of the state it serves. And that
is something that should trouble us all.
The writer is president of the University of
California system.
(c) 2003 The Washington Post Company
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