Anti-Asian Bias Found in UCLA Program : Discrimination: University chancellor says U.S. Dept. of Education’s claims are the result of faulty reasoning and political pressure.

UCLA’s graduate department of mathematics discriminated against Asian applicants in 1987 and 1988 in violation of federal civil rights law, the U.S. Department of Education announced Monday after a 30-month investigation. The government said 75 other UCLA graduate departments showed no anti-Asian bias in admissions and that an additional eight programs kept inconclusive records.

UCLA Chancellor Charles E. Young denounced the conclusions about the mathematics department, saying they were the result of faulty reasoning and political pressure. The university plans to appeal the findings within the Department of Education and, if need be, take the matter to court, he said.

The government is asking that UCLA change its admissions policies in graduate mathematics programs and offer admission to five Asian-American applicants allegedly denied entrance because of bias. The government could deny UCLA all federal grants, not just in mathematics studies, if the matter is not settled to Washington’s liking.

U.S. Secretary of Education Lauro F. Cavazos said in a prepared statement that he was encouraged by much of what the probe by his department’s Office of Civil Rights had found at UCLA. He added, “Although only one program was found to discriminate, that is one program too many.”

The study determined that there was a disparity between the rates at which Anglos, particularly Anglo women, and at least equally qualified Asian-American applicants were admitted to the graduate mathematics department and concluded that the disparity “appeared to be race related.” About a third of the 150 mathematics graduate students at UCLA are Asian, either American citizens or foreigners, campus officials said.

The five rejected applicants allegedly discriminated against do not know that they are the object of such controversy and have not been contacted by federal authorities, said Michael Williams, assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education. He said he did not know the identities of the five and would not name them if he did.

The issue of alleged entrance bias against Asians in the UC system has prompted several inconclusive state investigations over the past five years. The controversy had begun to die down because of significant increases in the ranks of Asian-American students at prestigious campuses such as UCLA and UC Berkeley this year and last. Asian students now comprise 36% of UCLA’s freshman class.

Asian-American activists said Monday’s announcement is expected to renew suspicions.

A similar federal investigation into undergraduate admissions at UCLA could be concluded later this year, Williams said. The results of a probe of Harvard University’s undergraduate entrance policies may be announced later this week, he said.

At a press conference on campus Monday, Chancellor Young contended that federal investigators relied too heavily on numerical measures, such as grades and test scores, and did not take into account how much UCLA considers the reputation of applicants’ undergraduate schools and the strength of personal recommendations.

Some Asians who are U.S. residents but not citizens were denied admission because certain government-funded fellowships require the recipients to be citizens, Young said. He added that federal officials did not properly consider that different disciplines within mathematics, such as statistics and applied mathematics, make separate judgments on applicants.

Young alleged that investigators were under pressure from U.S. Department of Education officials to announce the results by Monday and to make sure UCLA received some criticism.

“We believe the study and the results are in error. We believe there is no basis for the findings they have reached,” he stated.

Asked for a response to Young’s charge about political pressure, Williams said, “I take a great deal of, I have to admit, offense at that. It challenges my own integrity.” Williams said he had placed an Oct. 1 deadline for the study’s release because the matter had dragged on for so long.

UCLA’s insistence that it will appeal disappointed some Asian-American activists, who said energies might be better spent on a campus study of the issues.

“We are hoping that UCLA will conduct a more in-depth review to come up with more systematic admissions guidelines,” said Stewart Kwoh, executive director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles and president of the Asian alumni group at UCLA.