Monday, April 6, 1998
Fewer minority students offered admission
DIVERSITY: Entering class has best academic statistics ever for
UCLA
By J. Sharon Yee
Daily Bruin Contributor
Nearly two weeks after UC campuses at Irvine, San Diego and
Davis announced the acceptance of fewer minority students for the
fall quarter, UCLA and UC Berkeley released similar statistics.
The number of African American, Chicano/Latino and Native
American students admitted for the fall 1998 quarter has severely
decreased, according to the UCLA undergraduate admissions
office.
Only 280 out of 1331 African American applicants and 1001 out of
4063 Chicanos/Latinos were admitted, a decrease of 42.6 percent and
33 percent from last year’s applicants.
Because this is the first year after the elimination of
affirmative action in public institutions as dictated in
Proposition 209, reaction to the alarming figures primarily
centered around issues of maintaining campus diversity and the
quality of college preparation in secondary schools.
"The academic community is greatly distressed at these low
numbers," said Carol Petersen, special assistant to the
chancellor’s office.
"The excellent progress that has been made in achieving a
diverse student population is now being hindered by the fact that
fewer students (of various races) are coming to campus," she
added.
While the number of Caucasians admitted declined by 5 percent,
the number of self-identified Asian Americans admitted increased by
less than 1 percent.
However, the number of students who did not indicate their race
or ethnicity also increased, many of which are suspected to be
either whites and Asian Americans who fear being disadvantaged
simply by their race.
"The increase of applicants in this group makes it difficult to
calculate precisely the ethnic breakdown of admitted students,"
said Rae Lee Siporin, director of Undergraduate Admissions and
School Relations.
Others expressed great dissatisfaction with the decrease of
minorities being admitted, blaming the university for losing touch
with the current political and social conditions of the state.
"It is a shameful day for the University of California," said
Judy Baca, vice chair of the Cesar Chavez Center for Chicana and
Chicano Studies, on the day the data was released.
"With the city and state rapidly growing more and more diverse,
population-wise, the ramifications for not educating our own
diverse population are tremendous," she added.
Baca attributed the significant decrease to an unintentional
message that was sent with the passage of "anti-minority"
legislation like Proposition 209.
"Essentially, we are privileging the privileged and putting out
a chilling effect to the minority population, where people are
beginning to feel that they are unwelcome at educational
institutions like UCLA," she said.
Baca further explained that because students from minority
populations do not always receive opportunities to take Advanced
Placement (AP) courses and other preparation to meet eligibility
requirements, they are at a disadvantage and unable to aggressively
compete with students who are privileged with better economic
circumstances.
To encourage more minorities to apply and be accepted to the
university, Petersen suggested extending and improving outreach
services.
"As a part of the community, it is imperative to make ourselves
more available to the schools, working extra hard to overcome the
possibly damaging effects of a less diversely represented campus,"
she said, referring to the negative implications the decrease has
on the surrounding community.
Petersen also added that building strong educational
partnerships with the community is additionally important, because
many look to education to address and eventually solve economic and
social problems.
The entire month of April will be devoted to extensive outreach
attempts to enroll all admitted students, with particular emphasis
placed on those from underrepresented minorities, including
overnight programs, a two-day spring conference for admitted
students, and day-long introductory programs.
Due to the record number of applications received for Fall 1998,
this year’s selection process was extremely detailed, engaging over
a hundred faculty members, admissions officers, academic advisers
and college counselors to read and evaluate the applications.
Academic criteria include GPA, test scores, honors/AP classes,
curriculum strength and quality of the senior year program, while
additional criteria such as creative achievements, leadership
skills, special talents and internships are also taken into
consideration.
Readers also pay careful attention to personal statements, where
students are given the opportunity to write about their life
challenges, such as overcoming difficult socio-economic
circumstances or learning English as a second language.
Added consideration is given to students who are
first-generation college students and those who come from
single-parent homes, Siporin said.
Under the UC Regents’ SP-1 policy, the university is required to
accept 50 to 75 percent of the freshman class exclusively based on
academic criteria.
This year’s class is academically the strongest of any previous
class, boasting an average GPA of 4.19, average SAT score of 1324,
and having taken an average of 16.8 honors and AP classes.
Nevertheless, Baca advocated the need for aggressive action to
be taken in increasing the diversity of the student population.
"Classes are enhanced with a diverse set of students who enter
with a multitude of perspectives, which ultimately serve to promote
the educational potential of the university," she said.