Window into race ban is broken

The following was sent directly to reporter Marisa Schultz.

Ms. Schultz,

In your report “California offer window into race ban’s impact” (10/20/2006), you wrote the following and attributed it to “UC :leaders”:

“Public colleges have a duty to produce graduates of all backgrounds and students learn better in diverse, robust environments educators say. But Prop 209 bars UC from conducting targeted outreach and recruitment to underrepresented communities.”

Based on the evidence, these leaders are not being truthful. The University of California’s website lists a number of their outreach programs for young students. The following information comes from this site as well as the individual program sites. This is not a complete list of the outreach programs at UC. A review of this information reveals that UC is “conducting targeted outreach and recruitment to underrepresented communities.”


Early Academic Outreach Program
With offices at all UC campuses, the Early Academic Outreach Program helps students who have the potential for college, but just need a little help getting ready. From elementary school on, students work with EAOP counselors and participate in challenging, rewarding academic programs that provide the extra academic edge which many students in private schools take for granted.

According to the EAOP, they have the following impact:

- EAOP participants reflect the demographic diversity of the middle schools and high schools they attend. In 2003, 56% of EAOP students were Chicano/Latino, 11% were white, 10% were Asian, 10% were African American, and 1% were American Indian.

- According to an independent study conducted by the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing, EAOP students are twice as likely to complete the courses required for college admission than their non-EAOP counterparts.

- EAOP students enroll in college (UC, CSU, CCC) at higher rates than non-participants, particularly those participants from lower-performing schools.

- In 2003, 35% of EAOP participants achieved UC eligibility, a 25% increase from the previous year.

- Over a five-year period, the number of competitively eligible EAOP participants increased by 105% from 606 in 1998–99 to 1,244 in 2001–02.

- EAOP students take the SAT I and SAT II exams at substantially higher rates than non-participants.


MESA / Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement
MESA is one of the country's oldest and best-known programs that assists students to become highly trained technological professionals. Currently working with more than 30,000 students throughout California from elementary through university levels, MESA serves educationally disadvantaged students and, to the extent possible by law, emphasizes participation by students from groups with low eligibility rates for four-year colleges.

According to MESA:

- Of MESA high school graduates who are African American, Latino American and American Indian, 29 percent are eligible for admission to a UC campus. This eligibility rate is much higher than the statewide rate of 6.2 percent for African Americans and 6.5 percent for Latino Americans.


Academic Centers of Excellence (ACE)
The University of California supports Academic Centers of Excellence, a non-profit, after-school program for students around California. ACE assists elementary- and middle-school students in their education by maintaining centers within their communities to help with homework, provide extra learning opportunities and offer a place where they can feel comfortable and excited to learn. ACE also helps high-school students with college, loan and scholarship applications and holds SAT and other test preparation courses.

UC has ACE centers in several cities. Here is a list of the cities and the population percentage of underrepresented minorities for those cities. As you can see, these centers are located in areas with large percentages of minorities:

City	Latino	Black	Native American
Pittsburg	32.2%	18.9%	--
East Los Angeles	96.8%	--	1.3%
Bakersfield	32.5%	9.2%	1.4%
Carson	34.9%	25.4%	--
Los Angeles	46.5%	11.2%	--
Whittier	55.9%	1.2%	1.3%

[2000 Census Data]

California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP)
The Louis Stokes California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) is a prime University of California initiative to diversify the student population and the future faculty. UC Irvine serves as the lead campus and fiscal agent, under the established cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. The primary goal of the eight UC campus partners (Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, San Diego and Riverside) is to significantly increase the number of B.S. degrees granted to underrepresented minority students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) majors at the University of California and to prepare these students competitively for the nation's top graduate schools. This is accomplished through shared best practices, networking, academic support, and a welcoming campus climate. CAMP represents a system-wide community of UC faculty, program staff, and students working toward a set of shared goals, including not only B.S. degree completion but continuation on to graduate school, completion of the Ph.D., and entry into the scientific and engineering workplace. This collective effort has contributed to a 84% increase in B.S. degrees granted by UC from the baseline year (1990-91), for a total of 12,396 bachelor's degrees awarded to date to underrepresented minorities by UC. In addition to faculty mentored research experiences and peer mentoring and tutoring, principal activities include collaborative learning, presenting at scientific conferences, science writing and co-authorship, technology proficiency, and preparation for advanced degrees. Graduate education is currently supported by the Bridge to the Doctorate, hosted by UC partners. To date, graduate cohorts at UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and the current host UC Davis, total 46 graduate students.


The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative has been the target of a deceitful campaign since its inception. Reasonable people can debate the merits of preferential treatment and the moral implications of making distinctions by color or gender. However, a legitimate debate requires honesty. Unfortunately, the UC leaders you spoke with do not agree.

[Sent to The Detroit News 10/24/2006.]