A closer look: Maintaining image a struggle
By Thyda Duong
May 18, 2004 9:00 p.m.
Last year, the black daughter of a former colleague of Vu Tran,
director of UCLA undergraduate admissions, was faced with a
quandary.
She was accepted to UCLA, UC Berkeley and the University of
Southern California, which offered her a full tuition scholarship.
Ultimately, she did not attend either of the UCs.
Traditionally known for its strong multicultural student body,
this year UCLA admitted only 199 black students, over 25 percent
less than 2003.
While this number is expected to decrease due to a continued
rise in student fees and outreach programs undergoing significant
budget cuts, private schools such as the University of Southern
California have experienced the opposite.
In the past five years, the USC College of Letters, Arts &
Sciences experienced a 20 percent increase in the number of
underrepresented students and anticipates another increase this
year, said Nicole St. Pierre, associate director of public
relations for the USC College, which enrolls nearly half of the USC
undergraduate population.
University-wide, the percentage of underrepresented minorities
has composed approximately 20 percent of the total USC
undergraduate population in fall 2003 and 2002.
“Certainly diversity on campus adds value to the high
quality of education this private university and this college
provides for all of its students,” said Joseph Aoun, dean of
USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences.
As the enrollment of underrepresented minorities ““ blacks,
Chicanos/Latinos, and American Indians ““ at UCLA steadily
declines, questions arise as to whether the campus’s ability
to attract top minority students has diminished as well, losing
these students to private universities.
“Although no one’s happy with the enrollment
figures, relative to other universities, UCLA remains a diverse
place,” said Keith Stolzenbach, chair of the Committee on
Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools in the Academic
Senate.
“I don’t think we’ve lost our competitive
edge,” said Clifford Brunk, chair of the Academic Senate.
Although the population does not proportionately reflect the
demographics of California, UCLA has one of the most diverse
student populations in the United States, and in the world, Brunk
said.
While it is hard to compare UCLA to other schools, the decrease
in minority enrollment has adversely affected UCLA’s
reputation because the core of UCLA’s success has been its
racial and ethnic diversity, said Joseph Mandel, vice chancellor of
Legal Affairs, who also serves on Chancellor Albert
Carnesale’s advisory group on diversity.
“This has eroded UCLA’s own image,” Mandel
said, adding that this is also true of UC Berkeley and other highly
competitive schools.
The enrollment of underrepresented minorities has decreased
steadily since the passage of Proposition 209 in 1996, which
prohibits the use of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national
origin in determining admittance to a public institution.
“We are disadvantaged compared to private
institutions,” Tran said. “USC and other private
schools are not restricted; they can have a racial element in their
admissions process.”
Since 1997, enrollment figures for blacks have dropped by 58
percent, Latinos by 21 percent, and American Indians by 61
percent.
“As long as (Proposition) 209 is the law of the land, it
is very difficult for minorities to overcome the uneven playing
field,” Mandel said.
Although the ideal is for these groups not to be
underrepresented, no significant changes are expected in the future
due to the severe budget cuts to outreach programs, Stolzenbach
said.
“It is under an unfortunate set of terms that the governor
has not appreciated the importance of outreach programs,”
Brunk said, emphasizing the need to focus on secondary education to
make students more prepared and inclined to attend a
university.
Overall figures for underrepresented minorities have fluctuated,
but have remained near 15 percent of the total undergraduate
population, Tran said.
Though these numbers are insufficient, UCLA strives to maintain
its diversity, which is highly dependent on the actions of the
state government, which determines the total enrollment quota, Tran
said.
In Carnesale’s message on diversity in admissions on April
26, he recognized the reduction in the total number of students
admitted and said the decrease in underrepresented minorities is
disappointing.
“As a leading public research university, we are
responsible for preparing the leaders of the next
generation,” he said.
“These potential leaders must come from all segments of
society so that they can ultimately lead in all segments of
society. UCLA has a legacy of producing an abundance of such
outstanding leaders. Our proud tradition must be maintained,”
Carnesale said.
