Posted on 06/03/2004 5:13:53 AM PDT by Max Combined
BERKELEY, Calif. - Sometimes, Adia Harrison looks around her classes at the University of California, Berkeley and is slightly surprised at the reminder: Just about no one else looks like her. This fall, being black at Berkeley is likely to become even more of an anomaly that it already is. As of late spring, 98 black students had registered for fall enrollment out of an expected class of 3,821.
AP Photo
"This is supposed to be a public university and it's not really representing the public," Harrison said.
Campus officials aren't sure what lies behind a nearly 30 percent decrease in black admissions this year.
Part of the explanation may go beyond the famously liberal school itself. Applications from black students were down about 10 percent here, and decreases in minority applications also were reported at the University of Michigan and Ohio State University.
Gary Orfield, co-director of The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, said possible explanations include higher tuitions across the nation as well as publicity over a U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) ruling that struck down Michigan's system for giving admission preference based on race.
Berkeley recruiting efforts were further hurt, campus officials say, by new restrictions on their practice of flying students from predominantly minority high schools to campus for pre-application visits.
UC lawyers advised that targeting minority schools could violate Proposition 209, the 1996 voter-approved law banning the use of race in California college admissions, Berkeley spokesman George Strait said.
Berkeley officials don't agree with that interpretation and they are looking at ways to revive the visits.
"Virtually every part of the campus is extremely concerned about the low numbers of underrepresented minorities and, in particular, the appallingly low numbers of African-Americans," Strait said.
The fall enrollment figures came about six months after John Moores, chairman of UC's governing Board of Regents, issued a report saying Berkeley turned away thousands of students who aced the SAT but accepted hundreds — many of whom were black or Hispanic — with low scores.
After Moores wrote an opinion column in April saying UC policies victimized students, his fellow regents slapped him with a rare public censure. Regents also reaffirmed their commitment to UC's "comprehensive review" admissions, which don't consider race but do look at social factors, such as overcoming poverty, as well as grades and scores.
Still, the affair left some Berkeley students feeling undermined.
"The way a lot of the students feel is that the UC system and the administration has this rhetoric of celebrating diversity but they're not really following through with it," says Peter Tadeo Gee, a Berkeley student who works with a campus multicultural resources center.
Black student admissions have been low for some years.
In 1997, the last year affirmative action was allowed at UC's nine campuses, Berkeley admitted 562 black students. That number fell to 191 as the new race-blind policies took effect, but had risen to 338 by 2000.
But this fall, only 211 black students were admitted.
Renita Chaney, a junior and executive director of the campus Black Recruitment and Retention Center, said she would be reluctant to encourage black freshmen to attend this fall unless they want a challenge.
"If it's activism or some kind of fight they're looking for, then come here. But if education is what they're looking for, then don't come here," she said.
Toff Peabody, a Berkeley molecular biology major, was so struck by the new Berkeley numbers he joined a loosely organized group this spring that has been campaigning for a more diverse campus under the banner "White Males for Diversity."
"If the purpose of school was to just go to lectures we could all stay home and watch them on the Internet," Peabody said. "It's the actual interaction you have with other students that makes my education better at Berkeley than somewhere else."
As of fall 2003, whites accounted for about 30 percent of undergraduates, with Asian Americans, who also did not benefit under the old affirmative action programs, comprising about 40 percent. (Berkeley's definition of Asian American is broad, including people with ties to the Pacific Islands and countries such as India.)
Proposition 209 supporters say it's a mistake to focus on race or ethnicity — that keeping a close tally of demographics only serves to create barriers.
"Don't go there thinking, 'I'm going to be looking around for other black kids,'" says Ward Connerly, a part-black UC regent who led the fight to drop race-based admissions. "Go there and recognize that it's going to be one of the greatest experiences of your life. You're there to meet new people. You're there to learn. You're not there to engage in this racial, 'Mirror, mirror on the wall' kind of thing."
But for Harrison, knowing there'll be fewer black students on campus next year is a little unsettling.
"People are going to notice even more that there's not very many African-American people. Not only the African-American students will notice it," she says.
Still, she doesn't regret coming to Berkeley: "It's a good school, and I know eventually, no matter how difficult it is, I'll be able to get through."
THere are very few blacks living around Berkley Campus... lots of hispanics and asians, but blacks as a percentage of the population in San Fran area are next to nill.
Also its insanely expensive to live around Berkley, as like most of the Bay Area housing is ghastly overpriced.
Public universities tend to serve their local communities... and the only reason Berkley had higher rates to begin with was due to artificially created demand and preferencial treatments, its not suprising that when those preferencial treatments and recruitment slowed or stopped that admissions stopped as well. Its not some racist or end of the world thing, its just reality... I know that's something most college campuses don't wish to understand or accept, but it is.
"Seems like they have waaay too much diversity."
Not enough diversity in the proper percentages.
If 98 represents a 30% decrease, then last year they had only 140. And even at 140, blacks only represented 3.66% of the population. If anybody but a liberal college had that low a percentage, they would indeed be labled racist.
Hahaha...glad they explained that one :-)
People are forever telling me that they're "part Cherokee," and my response is always, "Oh? Which part?" So it would be interesting to know which part of Ward is black and which part is white.
It is VERY intimidating when you're in an university where "Nobody looks like me". Especially if you happen to be of a skin color that makes you look more "stupid".
I had a friend who expressed amazement that there were 3 blacks in his calculus class.
Also went to grad school. I was the only white female there and one of the very few non-obese females on campus, period. It wasn't comfortable being in an environment predominated by Asian and Indian males. For example, my advisor told me to not to take a class because it had "too much math" where in reality I loved and excelled at math.
This black girl probably grew up in a black neighborhood and is in a white environment for the first time. Nothing wrong with her feeling intimidated.
We need to stop pussyfootin' around with this blatant truth.
Bingo. . .Ward's 'blackness' does not serve their agenda and so they find a dismissive term and one for which they cannot be held critically accountable for using.
Liberalism is a beautiful thing; for those that have eyes. . .and cannot see.
Who would want to be around a bunch of elitist liberal racists anyway?
They were referring to his ideology rather than his race, you see. Since he doesn't agree with black "leaders", he can only be "part-black".
It might just be that the blacks aren't really all that interested in going to a college with a lot of white liberals and Asians.
Also what does Berkeley offer that you can't get somewhere else?
Get a better education at ba little community college then two year place for a tenth of the price. No thanks Berzerkley.
Forking over $20+K a year just to be part of "some kind of fight"?? Talk about money or nothing. Just head on town to the local bar and Saturday and get all the "activism" you want for free!
If they simply quit asking what race students were then there would be no numbers to gin up a handwringing story. After all, isn't the content of their character more important than the color of their skin? Oh yeah, that's considered a racist philosophy now.
When I went to school, I never looked around to see 'who looked like me'. STUDYING!!!
That speaks volumes!
LOL! Yeah, and what about blond haired, blue eyed, straight,Christian males? Now there's a minority I'd be willing to bet is WAY under represented.
Kudos to the students for being able to pull this off, but it still sounds abusive so it is little wonder the lawyers put the kibosh on the practice.
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