Minority admits at UC near pre-SP-1 levels

By Bimal Rajkomar
Daily Bruin Reporter

Numbers released Tuesday show that underrepresented minority
freshman admits to the UC system have increased to levels
comparable to when affirmative action was in use, but with only
modest increases at UCLA and UC Berkeley.

Underrepresented minorities made up 18.6 percent of the UC
admits for fall 2001 ““ close to fall 1997’s 18.8
percent. That was the last class to be admitted under affirmative
action, which was ended in 1998 because of the UC Regents’
policy SP-1, and the state voter initiative Proposition 209.

Minority admits are still down at the most competitive UC
schools, namely UCLA and UC Berkeley. Most of the increase in
underrepresented minorities overall can be attributed to rises in
Latino admits.

At UCLA, Latino admits rose from 11.7 percent of total admits to
12.6 over the past year, but is still below 15.4 percent in fall
1997.

The percentage of African American admits in the fall class
dropped from 3.1 percent last year to 2.8 percent. This is also far
below the high of 5 percent from fall 1997.

Native Americans admits stayed about the same, with 43 students
admitted this year and 44 last year, but far below the fall 1997
number of 79.

UCLA sent out 10,735 admission letters, down from 10,945 last
year, and expects about 4,200 students to enroll for fall 2001.

“We’ve admitted a superb group of young scholars to
UCLA with academic credentials that are among the best in the
country,” said Chancellor Albert Carnesale in a
statement.

“However, much still needs to be done to ensure that all
segments of our state’s population are adequately represented
in the student body,” he continued.

UCLA External Vice President Evan Okamura expressed
disappointment with the numbers that he said weren’t
surprising.

“We’re dealing with a small number of people who are
accepted and a smaller number of people who choose to come
here,” he said. “It’s a cycle.”

At UC Irvine, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, underrepresented
minority admits are just slightly below their 1997 levels, and at
UC Riverside they have actually risen, from 20.6 percent of the
admitted class to 25.3 percent.

Although officials recognize that the admitted students do not
accurately represent the ethnic makeup of high school graduates,
they see the growing numbers of minorities encouraging.

“Overall we are making progress, but we still have a way
to go,” said Dennis Galligani, associate vice president of
Student Academic Services.

Statistics are from in-state applicants and do not reflect
out-of-state and international students, and are preliminary.
Transfer admissions will be announced in May.

The decline in African Americans at UCLA, according to Rae Lee
Siporin, director of Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with
Schools, is due to many factors, including the increase in the
number of total applicants, and the small eligible pool of African
Americans.

“While the growth of admitted Latino students is very
encouraging, the decline in African Americans is disappointing and
illustrates the need for continued efforts in outreach
programs,” Siporin said in a statement.

Student regent-designate Tracy Davis agreed, saying these
statistics may change the way educators look at outreach.

Admits to UCLA continued the trend of increasing academic
achievement.

The average GPA of admitted students is 4.23, up from 4.16 in
fall 2000.

The average SAT score, 1328, is about the same as last
fall’s average of 1327.

Admitted students took an average of 17.8 honors and Advanced
Placement courses ““ an increase from 16 last fall.

Students have until May 1 to indicate their intent to register
at a UC school.

“Admission is only the first hurdle; now we must convince
these students to enroll,” said UC President Richard Atkinson
in a statement.

“All campuses, along with the President’s Office
will be making a strong effort tin the next few weeks to convince
these talented california high school students that UC provides
both quality and affordability,” he continued.

ETHNICITY OF ADMITTED FRESHMEN AT UCLA Although
Chicano/Latino admissions rose this year, the number of African
Americans fell. Out-of-state, international, and referral students
are not included in this report. *Asian Americans include Chinese,
East Indian/Pakistani, Pilipino, Japanese,

Korean, Vietnamese and other Asians.
**Decline to state are students who did not provide information on
their ethnic identity in the admission application.

SOURCE: UC Office of the President, campus admissions offices
Original graphic by ADAM BROWN/Daily Bruin Web adaptation by REX
LORENZO