A report claiming that UCLA is illegally taking race into account in its admissions process has drawn backlash from the campus community.
A number of letters, events and Facebook groups have sprung up in the past week, and a rally was held on campus on Monday, denouncing the report’s findings. Students, faculty and administrators have said the report implies that fewer students of color should be admitted to the university.
The author of the report, UCLA law professor Richard Sander, said he thought his report had been misinterpreted and added that he did not intend it to be an attack on any group of students. Sander’s report claims that the university’s current admissions process violates Proposition 209 ““ a law that prohibits state institutions from taking race into account in hiring or admissions.
Students have also expressed feelings of marginalization caused by the Daily Bruin’s Oct. 23 news story and opinion column about the report.
A letter signed by 57 faculty members criticized The Bruin’s coverage, in addition to disputing the findings of the report and expressing support for students who felt personally attacked by it. Because the admissions process is decided by faculty committees at UCLA, it was particularly important for the faculty to write a response to defend the admissions process, said Darnell Hunt, a sociology professor who signed the letter.
The faculty letter stated that Sander’s report does not take into account the findings already determined independently by sociology professor Robert Mare, who was commissioned in 2008 to do a study of the admissions process at UCLA.
Sander does not address the fact that the Mare study states that the vast majority of students are getting in through regular review, Hunt said.
Sander said that Mare’s findings corroborate his study. Following controversy over his report, Sander said no one has presented data that proves his study incorrect.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council also released a statement about the findings of the report. USAC could not take a strong stance against the report because it has not done independent analysis, but officers were concerned about the effect it has had on students, said Sahil Seth, USAC Financial Supports commissioner who wrote the letter on behalf of the council.
“Our goal is to make all students feel comfortable on campus,” Seth said. “When students felt discontent over the findings, that’s where we have to step in.”
Despite the mostly negative reaction to the report from the campus community, political science professor Tim Groseclose, who worked with Sander to acquire the report’s data from UCLA, posted an online statement in support of Sander’s findings. Groseclose publicly resigned from a faculty committee on admissions in 2008 because he said he was refused admissions data for a similar study.
Groseclose’s statement said the Sander report and the Mare study both find significant evidence of racial bias being used in the admissions process ““ a finding that Groseclose claims the admissions office has intentionally failed to note.
“The (Mare) report does find evidence of bias,” Groseclose said in the statement. “I believe that UCLA administrators were well aware of this, and I believe that is the reason they did not try harder to get the media to publicize the report.”