Thursday, May 7, 1998
Campus effort to sustain diversity commendable
ADMISSIONS: Members from all parts of UCLA community rally to
ensure variety in fall class
By Albert Carnesale
Over the past month, dozens of UCLA students, faculty, staff and
alumni have joined me in an intensive effort to protect one of
UCLA’s most precious assets: the diversity of our student body. By
making phone calls, writing letters, visiting high schools, and
meeting with students admitted to next year’s freshman class and
their families, we have reaffirmed the UCLA community’s commitment
to ensuring that cultural and academic diversity will thrive on
this campus. This extensive effort focused primarily on recruiting
admitted African American, American Indian and Chicano/Latino
students.
Since early April, many individuals have devoted a great deal of
time and energy to this effort, often in the evenings and on
weekends. Now, as we await the results of our work, I want to thank
everyone in the UCLA family for all you have done to make certain
that this great institution will continue to be enlivened by the
talents of young people of all backgrounds. We’ve worked hard to
recruit a diverse freshman class because diversity is an
indispensable component of UCLA’s academic distinction; indeed, I
believe it is essential to our success in the next century.
Our efforts of the past few weeks will benefit UCLA this fall,
but for me personally the experience has already been deeply
rewarding. Meeting so many remarkable young people and their
devoted and proud parents and getting to know families who in the
face of great hardship have prepared their children for higher
education – these innumerable interactions have helped me to gain a
first-hand appreciation for the strength of character and breadth
of diversity of the people in the Los Angeles area, and see why
that character and diversity must be reflected in UCLA.
I recall in particular a conversation with the parents of a
young woman who had decided to attend UCLA. They explained how the
family had recently immigrated to the United States, and how proud
they were of their daughter’s many accomplishments in the face of
such great obstacles. When I asked what their daughter planned to
study, the mother replied, "She can be whatever she wants to be."
How gratifying to know that UCLA is playing a part in enabling
their daughter to fulfill her potential.
Another special moment was when one of the UCLA students
participating in a recruitment visit to a local high school
addressed the gathered assembly. Among the insights she
communicated was this: "Higher education is not a right or a
privilege, it’s a responsibility." This message was delivered by
someone who has taken it to heart and is fulfilling her own
responsibility to help underrepresented minority students to pursue
and succeed in higher education. It is a responsibility that we all
must share.
Whatever the results of our recruitment efforts this year, we
will build upon and improve them in the future, learning from our
successes as well as our shortcomings. In the meantime, I will
continue to work with many of you to sustain and enhance diversity
at UCLA, not only in undergraduate admissions, but in other
critical areas as well.