Vote Scheduled on Affirmative Action
The Los Angeles Community College District trustees may join the bandwagon of agencies and students asking the University of California to reinstate affirmative action in its admissions policy.
A resolution scheduled for a vote today by the trustees says the university’s 1995 ban on affirmative action “has discouraged underrepresented minorities from applying to schools they perceive as hostile and unwelcoming.”
Since 1995, applications to UCLA have dropped 42% among Latinos and 55% among African Americans, the resolution says.
Community college district Trustee Warren Furutani, who introduced the resolution, said the university’s ban hinders students who want to transfer from the community colleges.
“They’ve taken away an important tool for bringing in students from all backgrounds,” Furutani said. “We’re not asking to return to the old way, which is against the law now, but to find a new way to reach qualified students being left behind.”
The state Assembly is scheduled to discuss a similar resolution April 17.
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