Minorities Get the UCI Message
The applications for college are on the deans’ desks and being sorted out. Who gets in and who doesn’t has not been determined yet, but so far it is clear that UC Irvine has done a commendable job of reaching out to students from minority communities who might not realize otherwise that the school’s doors are open to them.
The University of California announced last week that the number of applicants has increased. From the total of applicants for the class starting in 1998 to the total hoping to enter this year, UCI showed a 14.5% increase, ranking behind only the UC campuses at San Diego (16.4%) and Riverside (14.6%).
The number of minority students applying to UCI is growing, and that’s important. Applications by Latinos, Asian Americans and African Americans all were up.
This is heartening news in light of the concerns expressed by university officials that after the university ended its affirmative action programs in 1995, minority high school students would perceive the university as hostile. UCI has worked hard to tell high school students and those eligible to transfer from community colleges that the doors are open to all who qualify. In Orange County, with a large and growing Latino population, it is crucial that the university be seen as welcoming to Latinos. It already has proved popular with Asian Americans, who make up a large part of the student body.
The UCI vice chancellor of student services, Manuel N. Gomez, said the school has tried to strengthen ties with community colleges, including recruiting from the Bay Area and San Joaquin Valley to get students from a broader geographical base. UC officials say community colleges have far more Latino and black students proportionally than applicants admitted as UC freshmen. Emphasizing the ability to transfer from a community college can help increase diversity on campus.
Gomez and others also have gone into Santa Ana and other Orange County areas that have large Latino populations to tell students what is required for admission to a UC campus.
That outreach is needed and welcome from a university funded by all the state’s residents and intended to serve all communities.
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