For opponents of Ward Connerly, one year isn’t soon
enough.
Connerly, whose term on the University of California Board of
Regents ends in January 2005, weathered a day of student protests
geared in part toward getting him thrown off the university’s
governing body ““ efforts he says he will ignore.
Connerly is a long-time opponent of affirmative action and was
the author of Proposition 54, a controversial initiative that would
have banned the collection of race data by the state. The
initiative was defeated by a wide margin in the California recall
election.
Also among the protesters were students from various high
schools and colleges across California.
“We feel he’s trying to turn back the clock on civil
rights, and we think it should move forward,” said Sascha
Cohen, a first-year creative writing student from the University of
Southern California.
The movement also drew counter-protesters who said they were
defending Connerly’s right to academic freedom and
expression.
“There’s nothing in the (regents’) job
description that says he can’t have a political
opinion,” said Kendra Carney, president of UCLA Students for
Academic Freedom. “Especially when it’s related to
academics, that should be encouraged.”
However, issues of academic freedom are not why protesters want
Connerly out, organizers say.
“The real issue is, does Connerly have the right to use
the regents and the University of California name to push his
racist agenda?” asked Yvette Felarca, a member of the
Berkeley chapter of By Any Means Necessary, a nationwide
organization that defends affirmative action.
BAMN is the main backer of a wide range of activities this week
geared toward getting Connerly to resign, including a boycott of
Coors Brewing Co., which Felarca said made campaign contributions
to Connerly. BAMN also has collected over 12,000 signatures on a
petition demanding Connerly’s resignation.
“We want to make Connerly a liability for any business,
individual or government that does business with him,”
Felarca said.
Connerly has denied that Coors Brewing Co. made campaign
contributions to him.
Connerly was also a strong supporter of Proposition 209, which
banned the consideration of race and gender in state businesses and
schools. Currently, Connerly is attempting to get a similar
initiative passed in Michigan, where a recent Supreme Court
decision upheld the principles of affirmative action at the
University of Michigan.
Both protesters and counter-protesters addressed the regents
during the public comment period, though when Carney spoke in
defense of Connerly she was booed, a tactic Connerly denounced as
“thuggish.”
Connerly seemed unconcerned by the protester’s
efforts.
“What purpose is served by coming to the meeting demanding
that I resign, when they know I won’t resign and the regents
can’t make me resign?” he asked.
Connerly said he has represented students fairly on past issues
and pointed to his consistent record on voting against student fee
increases.
“I have treated the student community with
civility,” he said. “I have probably voted with the
student regent more than any of the other regents
combined.”
With reports from Adam Foxman, Bruin Reporter.