Poll shows most faculty favor affirmative action
Participation in vote by Academic Senate is low; apathy
cited
By Rachanee Srisavasdi
Daily Bruin Contributor
A majority of UCLA faculty members support a resolution to
rescind the University of California regents’ affirmative action
ruling, according to results from an Academic Senate mail ballot
released yesterday.
The Academic Senate – the faculty governing body – seemingly
affirmed its support for race and gender criteria in university
policies. In the poll, 59 percent of Academic Senate members
supported the senate’s affirmative action resolution, while 41
percent of members opposed it.
"It’s as we expected, that the majority of members were
supportive of affirmative action," said Judith Smith, the immediate
past chair of the Academic Senate. "But the results also show that
people have different feelings on how to achieve diversity."
Yet faculty participation in the vote was low, with only about
29 percent of the 2,900 senate members responding. Some faculty
speculated that current turmoil may have contributed to the low
turnout.
"The recent action by the regents discouraged faculty from
feeling their vote would have an impact (on changing the regents’
policy)," Smith said.
Others cited department apathy about university issues.
"There is less concern about affirmative action among colleagues
in the medical school," said Charles Lewis, chair of the Academic
Senate. "In general, they are not interested in campus
affairs."
In November, Academic Senate members approved a resolution which
called upon the regents to reinstate race as a criterion in
admissions and hiring. The approved resolution stated the senate
"strongly support(ed) the consideration of race, ethnicity and
gender in admissions and hiring results."
The Academic Senate also decided at the November meeting to have
an all-senate member mail ballot to accurately gauge support for
the resolution.
Ballot results overshadow arguments that the majority of UC
faculty do not support affirmative action. A recent faculty survey
found that of 1,000 Academic Senate members interviewed, 480 did
not support the use of gender and ethnic preferences in admissions
while 310 supported special preferences.
"Affirmative action is an issue that people have mixed feeling
about," said Aimee Dorr, the Academic Senate’s vice chair.
"Depending on how you phrase it, you can get people to say they are
for or against affirmative action."
The mail ballot, which was sent out late January, included both
arguments for and against the resolution. Pro-arguments included
statements that the regents failed to protect the university from
the intrusion of partisan politics, violated shared governance and
undermined the university’s efforts to act affirmatively against
racial, sexual and ethnic discrimination.
The assumed educational benefits resulted from affirmative
action, and that affirmative action is the only means to achieve
diversity, were two complaints about the resolution.
"Some people were not reading the resolution for context, but
examining all the clauses," Lewis said. "It’s hard to say that
faculty were voting against affirmative action, but were voting
against what the resolution stated."
UC San Diego’s also received results from their mail ballot on
Feb. 1. Of 611 respondents, 67 percent were in favor of a similar
resolution, while 43 percent were opposed.
The results of the mail ballot will be reviewed by the UC
Academic Council on March 13, which will decide what action to
take.
"It’s not clear what the impact of the resolution will be,"
Smith said. "But it shows that the issue of affirmative action will
not just wither away."Comments to webmaster@db.asucla.ucla.edu