Regents’ Policy on UC Admissions

Re “Restore the Welcome Mat at UC,” Commentary, April 17: If I understand UC Regent William T. Bagley’s concern correctly about the decline in minority admissions to UCLA and UC Berkeley, the question of paramount importance that drives their admissions policy should be, “Do you as a student feel welcome?” rather than, “Are you qualified for admission?”

Since Bagley defines minorities as African American and Latino, does this now mean that the UC has decided Asians are no longer a minority? Since the number of Asians now admitted to the UC campuses has increased under the new admissions policies, wouldn’t that indicate that Asians were discriminated against under the previous quota-driven policies?

If Bagley is typical of the level of “leadership” among the regents, then our UC system is in big trouble.

MARTE AMATO

Huntington Beach

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It was a positive sign to see Bagley’s commentary. He called for the original 1995 resolution banning affirmative action in university admissions to be rescinded. The answer to campus diversity in California is threefold: stronger K-12 schools, increased outreach and affirmative action.

The statistics (in employment, higher education admissions, retention, etc.) show that while educational equity is a wonderful ideal worth striving for, it is only that--an ideal. Realistically and unfortunately, to ensure educational equity we still need the powerful strategy of affirmative action. It is currently the best policy tool we have to ensure diversity on this state’s campuses.

SCOTT HEIMLICH

Los Angeles