Roberti Panel to Review UC Admissions of Asian Students

Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti said Saturday that he will appoint a special committee to review University of California admission practices for possible discrimination against Asian-American students.

In a statewide radio speech, Roberti (D-Los Angeles) charged that a recent auditor general’s report indicated a disparity in admission rates between Asians and Caucasians.

“Many Asian-Americans believe they are denied fair access to the Berkeley campus,” the Senate leader said. “The Asian-American Task Force on University Admissions believes the university changed its own admission policies to favor Caucasian students over Asian students. These are serious allegations and must be fully and completely investigated.”

The auditor general’s report, also requested by Roberti, said white students have a slightly easier time than Asians in gaining admission to UC Berkeley. But the study’s authors cautioned that it neither proved nor disproved allegations of anti-Asian bias in UC Berkeley admission policies.

A spokesman for the university system, Ron Kolb, said the university would be glad to cooperate in the proposed Senate committee study. “We are dealing with a very difficult issue,” Kolb said, “and we welcome the opportunity to provide a greater public understanding of the admission procedures now in place, which we feel are defensible and fair.”