Robert Berdahl, chancellor at UC Berkeley, spoke out against the
Racial Privacy Initiative last week. But our chancellor, Albert
Carnesale, still has not.
In taking a stand against Regent Ward Connerly’s proposed
RPI, Berdahl has strengthened his position as a campus leader and
supported the views expressed by many of his students. The RPI
would prohibit state agencies from requesting racial information on
any public forms, including college applications if passed in the
2004 elections. Connerly’s hope is to eliminate race as a
public factor, and thus, as an issue of social contention.
The most obvious problem with the RPI is it assumes making
admissions policies and other state forms race-blind will somehow
wipe out society’s racial perceptions as well. In reality, it
will only erase any record of society’s racially-motivated
inequality. Minorities will keep bumping their heads on the glass
ceiling, continue to make up 60 percent of inmates on death row,
and, more directly affecting the UC, continue to have small
representation on competitive campuses. The difference is
Connerly’s proposal will make these facts inaccessible to the
public, allowing the issues to continue growing in severity.
Carnesale has routinely failed to either take a strong proactive
stance or any stance at all on important campus issues, including
the quarter-versus-semester system debate, student seating concerns
at Pauley Pavilion, and repealing SP-1 and 2, former UC
anti-affirmative action policies. The chancellor’s agility in
sidestepping questions and avoiding political backlash is
impressive; but it is not in his job description to be walking on
pins and needles.
To his credit, Carnesale did start the Sept. 11 seminars last
year, which were so successful the university will continue having
them in a different form this year. He has raised a tremendous
amount of money during his tenure. But another thing this campus
sorely lacks is solid leadership. In a campus so large and
impersonal, it is especially important for the chancellor to make
himself a visible presence ““ this includes, among other
things, speaking out on social issues students are concerned
about.
In failing to come out and take a stance on the RPI, Carnesale
is not only wasting the weight his position of power gives him at
the UC, he is also showing his true color: yellow.