UC Law Students Deny Charge of Quota System

University of California law students on Thursday fired back at reports that their school’s admissions policies violate civil rights laws, in particular taking issue with characterizations of the procedures as a quota system.

“Race has never been and never will be the sole or controlling factor in the admissions policy of Boalt (Berkeley’s School of Law),” said George Washington, president of the Boalt Hall Students Assn.

Washington was one of several minority speakers at a news conference that preceded a rally of about 150 law students protesting the federal government’s findings released Monday. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights said some of Boalt Hall’s admissions procedures were “not consistent” with civil rights law and amounted to a quota system.

The university denied there were civil rights violations, but agreed to make some “procedural changes,” rather than go to court.

Although school officials said the changes will not affect the number of minority students admitted, students said they are concerned about the message the investigation may be sending.

“I think in dealing with reality we have to be honest and say that this public scare about race, racism, reverse racism and racism against Anglos . . . could have a detrimental impact on students’ applications to law school,” Washington said. “Who would want to come to a law school where as a student of color they would be perceived as being inferior or admitted on criteria that are less solid than other students’?”

Several speakers also said the two-year probe of prestigious Boalt Hall, the first law school ever investigated by the department, carried political undertones in an election year.

The agreement signed last week by university officials and the department says future applicants will not be separately considered or admitted based on race. The settlement does not bar all preferential treatment of minorities. New standards are to be in place by Dec. 18.