UCOP calls for review of UCLA outreach

By Scott B. Wong
Daily Bruin Staff

Amid reports that UCLA and UC Berkeley student outreach and
retention groups are campaigning to discourage prospective
underrepresented minority students from enrolling in their
universities, the UC Office of the President called for an internal
audit of those recruitment programs.

“(UCLA and Berkeley) were the only places where cases were
brought to our attention,” said UCOP spokesman Brad
Hayward.

But UCLA administrators fervently denied allegations that
university outreach programs are deterring students from attending
the school.

“I have yet to see anything that suggests students are
writing letters to prospective students,” said Tim Ngubeni,
director of the Community Programs Office. “It would be
hypocritical for students to tell others not to come here while
they themselves are at UCLA.”

According to Ngubeni, all political work takes place in
Kerckhoff Hall through groups sponsored by the Center for Student
Programming and Undergraduate Students Association Council.

But Ngubeni lauded the community work that comes out of the
Men’s Gym office, which houses some 2,000 to 3,000 student
volunteers who participate in tutoring, mentoring and counseling
programs. Such student-initiated recruitment programs are mainly
funded by a $3 mandatory student fee.

“I’m confident only good work comes out of this
place,” Ngubeni said.

Berky Nelson, director for CSP, called the UCLA review a
“fool’s errand.”

“It’d be ludicrous to be engaging in outreach and
discouraging students from coming here,” Nelson said.
“None of our groups have done this ““ there’s
nothing to sustain that notion.”

UCLA Affirmative Action Coalition ““ which is not a
registered student organization, but is comprised of registered
groups such as the African Student Union, MEChA and the Asian
Pacific Coalition ““ addressed letters to prospective students
in early March, informing them of the declining number of freshmen
admitted from underrepresented communities since the 1995 ban on
affirmative action. The letter states that it is “not
discouraging” students from attending UCLA, but rather,
“enlightening” them to current conditions on the
campus.

“As a prospective UCLA student you may have a number of
options when choosing an institution of higher education,”
reads the letter. “We want to make you aware of the
conditions you will encounter as a student of color if you choose
to attend a University of California school, specifically
UCLA.”

The letter further states that Chancellor Albert Carnesale
continually refuses to endorse the repeal of SP-1 and SP-2, 1995 UC
policies which ended the consideration of race and gender in
admissions and hiring practices.

Carnesale became chancellor of UCLA in 1998, after the UC
Regents passed the policies. He has said in the past that he wishes
they were not in place and that he believes not being able to use
affirmative action harms the UC.

According to Andy Ramirez, a first-year English and Chicana/o
studies student and member of AAC, the point of the letter was not
to stop students from coming here, but to let them know what to
expect when they get here.

Nelson said he did not necessarily agree with everything in the
letter, but he did not get the impression AAC was trying to
discourage students from attending UCLA.

According to Nelson, allegations against UCLA stemmed from
statements made by Berkeley outreach groups dissuading prospective
students from enrolling at the UC.

Eight Berkeley students representing the California Statewide
Affirmative Action Coalition announced during a March 1 press
conference that unless the UC Board of Regents repealed SP-1, the
groups would not participate in spring recruitment efforts and
would mail letters discouraging students from attending
Berkeley.

“We’ve been forced to make a decision that goes
against our own efforts to recruit students of color to the
university, but we’ve been left with no choice,” said
Alma Hernandez, a member of Berkeley’s MEChA, in a Daily
Californian article on March 2.

The policy was not repealed at the March 14-15 Regents’
meeting, but UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl quickly
responded by withholding about $30,000 from minority student
recruitment and retention centers and redirecting it toward other
university-sponsored outreach efforts.

Word of an audit first came during the March meeting at UCLA. UC
Regent Chair Sue Johnson called for an investigation to ascertain
whether UCLA and Berkeley groups have sent letters discouraging
students from attending their respective schools.

“UC Regents were concerned that our public funds would be
used to support this type of activity,” Hayward said.

Carnesale responded to Johnson in a March 19 letter, stating the
university has no evidence UCLA student groups have been engaged in
discouraging admitted students from enrolling.

“Our campus Undergraduate Admissions Office is the only
source for obtaining the names and addresses of applicants or
admitted students,” Carnesale wrote. “No student groups
have requested such information from the Admissions Office this
year or in past years; if they did, it would not be given to
them.”

According to Carnesale, only through personal contacts or
knowledge about admitted students would student groups be able
discourage prospective students from enrolling.

For now, both campuses will gather information from their
outreach and retention centers and forward it to UCOP as a first
step in the process.

“(UCOP) wants to be responsive to the regents’
request, but hasn’t imposed any specific deadline,”
Hayward said.