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Atkinson Outlines Fallout of Prop. 209 at UC Campuses
Ioana Patringenaru | February 5, 2007
Diversity at elite universities faces increasing threats nationwide more than 10 years after the passage of Prop. 209, which banned affirmative action in California’s public universities and other agencies. That was the warning delivered by former UC President and UCSD Chancellor Richard Atkinson Thursday at UCSD’s Faculty Club in front of more than 100 donors, community members and students.
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| Richard C. Atkinson |
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Atkinson knows what he’s talking about. He became president of the UC system a few months after the Board of Regents voted in 1995 to ban the use of affirmative action for admissions, employment and contracting. He had to implement the policy while Regents demanded that UC do everything to ensure a diverse student body – short of using race as an admission criterion.
One of these Regents, Ward Connerly, who championed Prop. 209, now has placed similar initiatives on the November 2008 ballot in nine states, from Arizona, to Oregon, to South Dakota. Michigan and Washington voters already approved measures based on Prop. 209’s blueprint.
Connerly is confident the initiatives have a good chance of passing, Atkinson said. If UC is any indication, universities will struggle to preserve diversity if these measures are in fact approved. “It’s going to be very difficult if at all possible to have diversity at elite universities like the University of California system without using affirmative action,” Atkinson said.
After Prop. 209, UC outreach programs shifted their focus to the state’s lowest-performing schools, reaching out to students from low-income families, Atkinson said. The system implemented comprehensive review, which looks at life experiences and opportunities to learn, in addition to test scores and grades. “That gives the admissions officers flexibility and probably yields somewhat more students that are under-represented,” he said. In addition, UC also admits students in the top 4 percent of their high school class, if they took college-prep courses, known as A through G requirements. UC also put an emphasis on tests that measure achievement rather than aptitude, leading to changes in the SAT, Atkinson said.
As a result, UC now has the highest percentage of low-income students among the nation’s higher education systems. But the percentage of minority students remains low. Before Prop. 209, under-represented students made up 21 percent of UC’s student body, versus about 17 percent today. Black students made up about 7 percent of students, versus about 3 percent today, Atkinson said. That percentage is even lower at UC’s elite campuses, including Berkeley and UCLA.
“It’s really a tragic situation,” Atkinson said.
So what can universities do? During his talk, Atkinson was cautious about solutions. But during a Q&A session, he said he had high hopes charter schools could help inner-city children get to UC campuses. He cited UCSD’s Preuss School, a college-prep charter school that serves low-income students who would be the first in their family to go to college.
In a 2004 paper, Atkinson also wrote that it would make sense to admit students in the top 6 or 8 percent of their high school class. In all, 700 to 1400 more minority students would become eligible for UC. UC also could admit the top 15 percent of high school students statewide, instead of the top 12.5 percent admitted today.
Atkinson’s talk left many in the audience wanting to hear more about solutions to the lack of diversity on UC campuses.
“I’m hopeful, but yet I wonder how to tackle the issue,” said Jackie Kennedy, a junior and sociology major who is black.
Atkinson’s talk was part of UCSD’s Social Sciences Supper Club series. |
