UC Riverside, UC Santa Cruz
Your Sept. 22 article, “Enrollments Keep Rising for Colleges,” incorrectly attributed to me erroneous information regarding the University of California campuses at Riverside and Santa Cruz.
I did not say that UC Riverside and UC Santa Cruz are presently underenrolled by several thousand students. In fact, Riverside is overenrolled and Santa Cruz expects its largest number of students ever to register for fall classes. I did tell your reporter that more than two decades ago both campuses had to overcome undeserved reputations created sometimes unwittingly by local community leaders and unfairly promulgated by the news media.
Yes, it is true that enrollment at UC Riverside fell off beginning in the early 1970s. But reputations and times change. Riverside’s air has gotten cleaner and the campus has assumed its rightful position as an equal jewel in the UC crown. Here is an indicator of UC Riverside’s success: Since 1980, the campus enrollment has more than doubled.
As for UC Santa Cruz, while its emphasis on strong liberal arts and its pass-fail grading system (due to be changed next year) have drawn plenty of press attention over the school’s 31-year history, there is nothing alternative about its award-winning academic or research programs. At the UC Santa Cruz-operated Lick Observatory, researchers earlier this year discovered two new planets orbiting distant suns 35 light-years from Earth.
TERRY L. COLVIN
Senior Public Information Rep.
UC, Oakland
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
