Students and community members joined a state senator on campus
Wednesday to support his campaign to make UCLA more representative
of the Los Angeles area. The event garnered some response from
university administrators but likely will not yield an immediate
change in admissions policies.
A contingent of about 80 students, community members and
reporters gathered at Meyerhoff Park at 11 a.m. to hear state Sen.
Richard Alarcón, D-San Fernando Valley, introduce his plan to
get UCLA to accept more minority students from the L.A. area.
Alarcón’s “4/15+” plan calls for UCLA to
accept automatically all graduating high school students within at
least 15 miles of campus who finish in the top 4 percent of their
respective classes.
The plan, he said, is “an investment in local
talent.”
Alarcón said the university strongly should consider life
experience when making admission decisions. Though students in area
high schools may not have the highest grades, they often face
difficult nonacademic pressures, including gang violence and
drugs.
Instead of recognizing local students and reflecting local
diversity, the university is taking steps ““ including a
proposed increase in the minimum required GPA for undergraduate
admission ““ that would decrease further the proportion of
minority students from the L.A. area, said Allende Palma/Saracho,
president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council.
“The university as a whole is continuing to move in an
elitist direction,” Palma/Saracho said, adding that student
leaders plan on collecting letters of support and meeting with the
chancellor in upcoming weeks.
Alarcón said he has not introduced legislation specific to
this issue but hopes to by January. For now, he wants to persuade
Chancellor Albert Carnesale to make what Alarcón sees as
necessary changes to admissions procedures.
After the plan was endorsed briefly by Lakesha Harrison,
president of the local chapter of the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees, Anica McKesey, the former president
of USAC, and several others, the rally moved to the
chancellor’s office in Murphy Hall.
Executive Vice Chancellor Daniel Neuman greeted the caravan with
a prepared statement, expressing disappointment at the low levels
of minority students at UCLA. The university, he said, was
conducting an analysis with the eventual goal of ensuring that
“students, particularly underrepresented students, are able
to compete” equally to gain admission to UCLA.
The chancellor will keep Alarcón updated on the
proceedings, Neuman said. Neuman declined to answer questions after
reading the statement.
Alarcón, who said he came to Carnesale with these same
issues several years ago, was not satisfied with the response from
the chancellor’s office.
“I think (Carnesale) is trying to dodge a bullet,”
Alarcón said.