Reaching out for diversity

Tuesday, November 3, 1998

Reaching out for diversity

ADMISSIONS: Community programs necessary to maintain UC’s
tradition of multiethnic campus environment

By Albert Carnesale

In the aftermath of Proposition 209, the issue of diversity has
galvanized the UCLA campus ­ and properly so. For the first
time in many years, student diversity is on the wane. This is a
serious matter. It is, in my view, a call to action. I am seeing to
it that we answer that call, that we do so by working in concert as
a campus community, and that we persist in our efforts until we
achieve lasting change.

For more than three decades, UCLA and the University of
California have worked diligently toward ensuring that the student
body of our state’s great public university system mirrors the
ethnic and cultural diversity of California itself. Commendable
progress was made; UCLA and her sister campuses take pride in their
role of preparing leaders from and for all segments of our society,
not just a chosen few.

Although it is one of UCLA’s most cherished hallmarks, we do not
seek diversity for diversity’s sake. Students learn not only from
their professors, but from each other ­ and they benefit most
when their classmates reflect many different backgrounds,
experiences and cultures. UCLA has proven conclusively that
academic excellence and ethnic diversity are compatible and, in
fact, mutually reinforcing. If we are to continue serving the full
population of California, we cannot allow those gains to
evaporate.

Today, nearly two years after California voters approved
Proposition 209 (which prohibits consideration of race, ethnicity,
national origin or gender as factors in admissions decisions), we
see the first evidence of the predicted outcome of this action. It
is a sobering reality: the 1998 freshman class is significantly
less diverse than was the entering class of 1997. If this trend
were to continue, UCLA would lose the wonderful enrichment to
education that a multicultural, multiracial environment
affords.

The formidable challenge for UCLA and the UC in this
post-affirmative action era ­ our mandate, in effect ­ is
to find ways to boost the academic performance of educationally
disadvantaged high school students so that more of them can compete
for admission to our respective institutions. In other words, we
face the daunting task of repairing and rebuilding a damaged and
very fragile pipeline.

To tackle this problem, we have devised an outreach plan that
includes short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term strategies.
"Outreach" is an umbrella for a broad range of programs ­ some
that are new and others that have been in place for several years
­ designed to improve student preparation through partnerships
between the university and K-12 schools, community colleges,
families, community groups and local businesses. Spearheading this
ambitious undertaking is an evolving campus-wide task force of
students, staff, administrators and alumni volunteers who are
dedicated to protecting diversity at UCLA.

Our strategy for the short term is an aggressive recruitment,
retention and information campaign with one simple message:
underrepresented students are wanted, needed and welcome at UCLA.
Already there are encouraging signs that this approach is the right
one; last year’s post-admission recruitment effort resulted in the
highest ever percentage of admitted underrepresented students
choosing UCLA.

The intermediate strategy involves programs that focus on K-12
students, particularly those enrolled in Los Angeles County public
schools. In the Career-Based Outreach Program, for example,
specially trained UCLA students serve as mentors to disadvantaged
high school students, who in turn work with middle schoolers.

Over the long term, we want to effect change in the K-12 schools
themselves by improving teaching, curricula, materials, resources,
leadership, counseling and student-support services. We also hope
that UCLA research will help to illuminate the root causes of
educational disparity so that it can be avoided entirely.

An infusion of more than $5 million in new funding to UCLA from
the state and UC budgets will enable us to significantly increase
our outreach activities this year. We will be able to work with
more high schools and middle schools to have a visible presence in
local communities and to have more UCLA students participate.

An exciting new development is our plan to create a network of
multipurpose community outreach centers in the neighborhoods where
K-12 students live. These "centers of excellence" will enable UCLA
faculty, students and staff to work in partnership with local
schools, businesses and community organizations to provide outreach
services at key neighborhood locations equipped with computers and
other essential learning tools. These methods will enable us to
participate actively in urban communities on a daily basis.

To accomplish all of this, we must harness the energy of the
entire UCLA family. The ultimate goals of increased diversity and
access to the University can only be achieved if we work together
as a campus community.

Student input and participation are critical components of the
outreach effort. One could not imagine a better role model than a
UCLA student when it comes to inspiring young people to prepare for
a college education.

Student-initiated and student-run outreach programs, coordinated
by the Community Service Commission and the Community Programs
Office, are an important element in our overall strategy.

To enhance these programs, we will more than double the amount
of funding that was available last year. I hope this will further
energize UCLA’s student volunteers who have a long and wonderful
tradition of helping inner-city schoolchildren as tutors, mentors
and advisers.

UCLA’s outreach plan is a bold and ambitious approach to an
immense challenge. It is unlikely that large numbers of
educationally disadvantaged students will immediately become UC
eligible.

Meaningful results will take years to achieve. Having embraced
our responsibility, however, we must not be discouraged by the
magnitude of the task before us.

Outreach is not just a buzzword; it is the only realistic
approach to a problem we have worried about for some time. Now we
must tackle that problem with intelligence, determination,
creativity and vigor ­ qualities in ample supply at UCLA. I
have pledged to work hard to protect and enhance diversity on this
campus. I urge you to join me in that endeavor, so that we can
realize our shared aspirations for UCLA and for our society in the
21st century.

Comments, feedback, problems?

© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board[Home]