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Daily Bruin: Spring quarter, the African Student Union
marched up to the chancellor’s office and demanded that UCLA
be more proactive about the staggering number of minority student
admissions every year. What would you answer to those students if
that happened again?
Interim Chancellor Norman Abrams: That’s a very hard
question. If that happened now (given the action already taken
about admissions), I would tell them that I am as deeply concerned
as they are. I see this as a crisis. I would tell them that I have
been meeting with people, different groups, task forces to discuss
this issue and to work toward a better admissions process. But we
must work within the boundaries of Proposition 209.
DB: Ninety-six black students enrolled in the UCLA freshman
class this fall, the lowest number in the past 10 years. Of the
10,487 students admitted to the university for fall 2006, about 2.3
percent were black. Before the passage of Proposition 209, UCLA had
the highest number of black freshmen in the UC system. Given these
facts, where do you see the state of underrepresented minority
student enrollment, and where do you hope to see it a year from
now?
NA: The proposals are not meant to address this specific number.
I would like them to be different because I would like for there to
be a more diverse student body, but we don’t know what these
changes will bring. We are doing this because there needed to be
improvement. We don’t know what the consequences will be as
far as the specific numbers go. We saw that there was a need to
improve, so we decided to make that change.
DB: What do you think is the root of this issue? What steps
do you think should be taken to create change where
needed?
NA: UCLA will work toward having more diversity because
it’s important. It’s an important part of the social
learning experience. There’s the academic, but this is the
social. UCLA will work to maintain diversity. For example, students
should be expected to be courteous, understanding and more tolerant
of others who may disagree with them or have a different religious
or ethnic background. If it’s one thing I’m intolerant
of, it’s intolerance itself. So we need to ensure that
students are exposed to a diverse environment with differences so
that they can learn to be courteous, understanding and
tolerant.
DB: Why is improvement in this area so important to
you?
NA: I don’t think it’s me, well … let’s put
it this way, if it was someone else sitting in this chair, this
issue would be just as important to them. I see this as a crisis. I
mean, I am concerned and think that given the numbers in the
spring, this is important, but I do think that this is an issue
that is important to all of us. This would have been equally
important to anybody else sitting on this chair.
DB: Holistic and comprehensive are synonymous, so how are
the two processes different?
NA: They are different. Comprehensive review: There were three
areas that were looked at segmentedly. The academic, talent and the
life challenges were three portions. This was the system the UC
(systemwide) adopted. These segments were looked at separately. But
in the holistic approach, the same person would read through the
entire application so that it is placed in some context. I am a
professor at the law school and I issue exams. The essay exam may
have four parts to it. Now, I may read the first part of every
student’s paper and grade it, then move on to the second part
of every paper, etc. Or I can read all four parts of one
student’s essay and grade it and go on to the next one. My
first approach would be the comprehensive, the second would be the
holistic.
DB: I would like to point out that although these numbers
for UCLA are decreasing, underrepresented minority enrollment
overall in the UC system has increased. What does this say about
the status of UCLA relative to the other UCs?
NA: Well, UCLA receives the most numbers of applicants in the
nation. Berkeley receives about 5,000 under our number of
applicants. We are among the best universities in the nation. Now I
know UCLA is the best university, and of course students would want
to be a part of our campus, so more and more students apply. It has
become so that to get into UCLA, your competition level goes from
here (with lowered hands) to here (raised hands). Let’s say
you’ve got a 4.2 and a 1300 and another student has got a 4.5
and a 1500. Both are good students, but both have also raised the
bar of applicants higher and higher. So we now have to address how
these relative students may compare in other areas. That’s
not to say the other campuses aren’t beautiful. Oh no, the
other campuses are very prestigious and wonderful, but given the
number of applicants to UCLA (smiles), I think UCLA, well, maybe
Berkeley too (laughs), is the best.
DB: Like I mentioned earlier, students had voiced their
concern. To what extent would you say this influenced your decision
to initiate the proposal? Or to what extent would you say their
actions acted as a catalyst for this proposed change?
NA: Well, there needed to be change. I mean their concerns were
heard, but it is definitely not what spurred the need for a change.
This is a clear issue, and UCLA took action because it saw the need
for improvement and change, especially after seeing the admissions
numbers in June.
DB: How did such a procedure get done so fast? You said the
committee looked into the admissions process for the past year, but
how did things so rapidly make the table once you decided there
needed to be change?
NA: Well like I said before, this was something that needed to
be changed. Some groups had been looking into this for quite some
time, but given the numbers, there needed to be change, so we
decided to take initiative immediately so that hopefully it can
even take into effect for those applying in November.
Interview conducted by Saba Riazati, Daily Bruin
reporter.