By Barbara Ortutay
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
High school and college students from across the state, labor
activists, teachers and professors are all expected to converge at
UCLA on March 14 to call on the UC Board of Regents to change their
admissions and hiring policies.
The repeal of SP-1 and 2 ““ policies that ended the use of
affirmative action in UC admissions and hiring ““ is not on
the agenda for the March 14-15 meeting, which will be held at
UCLA.
But even if the repeal were to pass, Proposition 209, which
banned affirmative action in the state in 1996, would still remain
law. Those regents who have expressed their support for the
policies’ repeal said they would rather wait until the May
meeting to place the item on the agenda.
“We want a significant majority. You don’t want to
prevail by 11-10, and there are a few votes still to be garnered
““ and there are still vacancies,” said Regent William
Bagley.
“If we were to wait just a few months, we would
significantly increase the prevailing majority,” Bagley
continued, adding that while this may not be what students want, in
the long run it is going to have a much better effect
nationwide.
“We certainly can’t risk one or two people being
sick or absent and not being able to pass the resolution,”
Bagley continued.
But students ““ including members of UCLA’s
Affirmative Action Coalition ““ want the board to address this
issue at this week’s meeting.
The regents will only be holding discussions ““ and not
making decisions ““ about matters relevant to the UCLA
campus.
Student groups are planning to participate in “Freedom
City” on Monday and Tuesday, where they will be camping out
and holding workshops on campus in preparation for
Wednesday’s protests, AAC members said.
“On March 14, we call for a student strike,” said
African Student Union chair Karren Lane at a rally on campus last
week.
With reports from Timothy Kudo, Daily Bruin Senior Staff. The UC
Board of Regents will meet in Covel Commons March 14-15.