What is important to understand is that both the UCLA administration as well as some UCLA student groups and government leaders have a very similar goal in mind - namely, a diverse UCLA student body.  There are other competing goals, but with regard to outreach efforts, the goal of a diverse student body is perhaps the main driving force.  The disagreement lies in choosing the means of reaching that goal.

The UCLA administration, supported with money from the UC Regents, now has until 2002 to show results on the UCLA campus with regards to student diversity.  Therefore, the primary focus of UCLA's administrative outreach efforts is historically underrepresented students within the top 12.5% of California's high school seniors along with those just below the 12.5% UC eligibility cutoff.  Many of UCLA's outreach programs also focus on all students and whole schools (particularly those with large historically underrepresented student populations), but again the primary focus is maintaining and increasing the diversity of UCLA's student body.  Administrative efforts cannot only focus on UC eligibility, they must also specifically focus on helping students to become 'competitively admissible' to UCLA.

On the other hand, student outreach efforts often take a broader view by reaching out to all segments of a particular community.  The primary focus of student outreach efforts may focus on 'going to college' in general, community empowerment, and other strategies which are not specifically aimed at those already near the top of their class (i.e. those that have a good chance of getting admitted into UCLA).  A secondary focus, however, very well might be to specifically increase the diversity of UCLA's student body (e.g. in this area some groups focus on California's top students, others focus on changing the admissions criteria, and others still focus on repealing recent UC policy on admissions).  From this analysis, one can see that there is a large amount of overlap and agreeement if one examines the primary and secondary focus of both administration and students at UCLA.

UCLA administration and students are responding to the recent drop in numbers of historically underrepresented students admitted to the UCLA campus.  Both groups have similar goals, and at the same time both have a slighly different focus on the means of reaching those goals.  Rather than heated dialogue, it is the shared ideals that should be discussed.  The shared vision in the importance of achieving a diverse student population, which in the end benefits all.

The PluralNet team believes the shared venture to establish community centers, which would be run by both UCLA students and administration, is truly a collaborative step in the right direction.  See Daily Bruin - April 6, 1999 - University assures funds to build outreach center for more information on this latest effort.

last updated 6/99