University of California System Rejecting Taxpayer’s Wishes
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54% of California voters, amended the state constitution to prohibit public institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity
In 1996 Proposition 209, supported by 54% of California voters, amended the state constitution to prohibit public institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity. It was widely described as anti-affirmative action designed to end racial preferences.The University of California system has been accused of rigging its admission practices to overturn that voters’ decision. The recent resignation of a UCLA professor and member of its admission’s committee because he was refused access to admission’s data has created widespread angst and even anger.
For its part UC says it is obeying the law while adopting a “hollistic” approach to admissions relying less on grade point averages (GOA) and college aptitude scores like the SAT and ACT, and more on such things are community involvement and a subjectively refereed admission’s essay.
Critics are raising cane pointing out that only 5% of less qualified whites and being admitted while 75% more blacks are calling it “reverse discrimination”, and pointing out it is a disservice to admit unqualified students because they drop out - the drop put rate for blacks in 2007 at a sampled UCLA school was 41.6%; 15.2% for whites and only 10.2% for Asians.. They point to SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) scores 400 points lower for admitted blacks than white students.
Proponents like Sociologist Darnell Hunt, director of the Ralph Bunche Center for African-American Studies at UCLA routinely raise three arguments including: the prior admission policy was a failure; GPA and standardized test are not objective measures of merit, and UC’s mission mandates diversity. Hunt says it is the responsibility of a tax supported institution, like the UC system to educate future leaders in science, business and art for their communities.
Notwithstanding the arrogance that only UC can fulfill that leadership mandate the issue is exploding because of unanswered questions about the part, if any, race played in the Ivy League educations of Barack and Michelle Obama.