There’s still work to be done now that SP-1, 2 are gone

EDITORIAL BOARD Christine Byrd
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Last Wednesday, the University of California Board of Regents
voted unanimously 25-0 to repeal SP-1 and 2, the measures
forbidding the use of affirmative action in the university’s
admissions, hiring and contracting policies. This represents a
radical turn from the board’s decision six years ago to end
affirmative action.

It’s obvious that this shift in policy finally came about
as a result of student action, political pressure and the
undeniable evidence that the percentage of minorities enrolled at
the UC has been dropping. Through grassroots organizing, protests
and coalition building, the students and community organizers
effectively put pressure on legislative members and the regents to
change their discriminatory and exclusionary policies.

But with these two measures gone, there’s still a larger
obstacle to overcome: Proposition 209, the California law banning
the use of affirmative action statewide. For the most part, the
repeal of SP-1 and 2 is a symbolic move that supports diversity and
sends a message to minority students that they are welcome at the
UC.

RE-28 removes SP-1 and 2 and allows for leeway to work within
the confines of Proposition 209 for a more holistic admissions
process. And it is this admissions process that student activists
must target next.

Under SP-1, 50 to 75 percent of students were admitted into the
UC on the basis of numbers alone, namely the SAT I, AP courses and
GPA ““ factors that have built-in inequalities, which tend to
favor affluent and privileged students. At some UC campuses,
admissions officers who admit students on the basis of these
criteria do not even look at the rest of the application.

The new measure, however, allows the UC’s academic senates
to change SP-1’s two-tiered admissions system. This will
allow for consideration of other educational criteria like personal
statements, extra-curricular activities and even hardships. After
all, a student’s ability to perform well in college cannot be
gauged at by a few test scores. Students must put pressure on the
academic senates to create a more holistic admissions process. This
in itself is a good step toward increased diversity.

What’s worrisome, however, is that the Supreme Court will
likely hear a case on affirmative action. With the conservative
Rehnquist Court deciding the case, it is likely affirmative action
will be terminated nationwide.

But this should not discourage students from making local
change. While using RE-28 to change our admissions policy to one
more equitable and non-discriminatory, students can also educate
communities about the ways affirmative action can benefit them
““ regardless of their race, gender or ethnicity. Through
outreach and direct action, students can transform the
consciousness of their communities and educate others of the need
for affirmative action. Through this, attention can be turned to
repealing Proposition 209 itself.

At the regents’ meeting, legislators helped pressure the
regents into passing RE-28 by using the state and UC budget as
leverage. But if our state government truly values diversity and
providing access to the university system paid for by their
constituents then they should stop paying this matter lip service
and actually make the budgetary changes needed to serve
students.

Rather than proposing $20 million for an Institute of Science
and Innovation, perhaps the budget-makers should look toward
increasing the funding for such vital student services as outreach
and retention that work toward promoting diversity and
accessibility.

State legislators need to ensure students have a fair
opportunity at receiving an education by focusing on providing
funds for California’s dilapidated K-12 system and by
building more universities and enhancing existing ones.

Diversity on this campus and equal access is a joke. But as
history demonstrates time and time again, real change comes when
people with serious grievances stand up and force the people in
power to listen to their demands. While the repeal of SP-1 and 2
represents a hard-fought battle won, the war against unequal access
is far from over.