This initiative approved by California voters forced the University to revise its admissions policies.  No longer could race be used as one factor among many in admission decisions at California's public universities, as Justice Powell's opinion in the Bakke case had established in the 1970s.  The changes in admission policy, along with the UC Regents new policies (SP-1 and SP-2) which preceded the initiative,  translated to a significantly lower number of historically underrepresented students admitted in 1998.   In terms of student diversity, these policies resulted in a larger drop in diversity at the most competitive University of California campuses, notably UC Los Angeles and UC Berkeley (as compared to other University of California campuses).  The numbers of historically underrepresented students recently admitted to UCLA for the 1999-2000 school year improved from last year, but is still low compared to admission statistics from 1997 (See Daily Bruin - April 5, 1999 - Minority admits level off after prior decrease).  For a long-term look at the actual admission statistics for different ethnicities at UCLA, go to the UCLA Office of Academic Planning and Budget , where you can click on Ethnic Enrollment to see the data for Fall 1973 through Fall 1998.

Additionally, the UC Regents recently adopted a new admissions policy in determining the eligibility of California's graduating high school seniors for University of California admission.  The passage of the 4% plan by the UC Regents will give UC eligibility to students who graduate in the top 4 percent of their high school class.  While this will contribute to greater diversity (especially geographic) in the University of California system, the policy will have no impact on who is admitted to the more competitive UC campuses.  (See Daily Bruin - March 18, 1999 - Regents Approve 4% plan for Admission).  While many argue that this policy is not enough to offset the impact of Proposition 209, many view it as a step in the right direction.  Affirmative action was a very effective yet imperfect policy tool in working to ensure diversity on UC campuses.  The establishment of goals was acceptable; quotas were illegal; race was just one plus factor among many.  In the absence of affirmative action, the focus on outreach initiatives has placed the University of California in the national spotlight.  While a detailed discussion is outside the scope of this webpage, for information on the recent passage of Washington State Initiative 200 (roughly modeled after California's Proposition 209), click here .

Members of the Education 432 class (Cohort 6) were asked to look at the Proposition 209 related issues that arose between the administration and student government leaders in the '97-'98 and '98-'99 school years.  The PluralNet team specifically decided to focus on the area of outreach, which in most cases is aimed at student populations that are historically underrepresented in higher education.  We sought common ground and an understanding of the issues through knowledge of the various outreach programs and opinions of those intimately involved.

last updated 6/99