Berkeley’s Inclusive Education

Re “Anti-Bias Law Has Backfired at Berkeley,” Commentary, March 27: The chancellor of UC Berkeley is correct when he states that the inclusion of minority students improves the overall education that the university offers. Robert Birgeneau fails, however, when he refuses to address the reality that many alumni of Berkeley, such as myself, experienced.

Rather than foster a sense of inclusiveness, the obsession with multiculturalism at UC Berkeley artificially creates a siege mentality. Students are encouraged to see themselves as victims and indeed are rewarded for such a worldview through special scholarships and programs. Those who manage to succeed on the basis of their own merits are looked down up on and derided as sellouts.

The tragedy here is that the real world does not operate like this.

As long as elite universities such as Berkeley insist on indulging political correctness instead of truly preparing students to succeed as leaders after graduation, the real goal of improving the lives of minorities through a university education will remain elusive.

Randy Barnes

Los Angeles

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Birgeneau has bravely and rationally reintroduced the issue of an inclusive higher education system. As an alumnus of Berkeley, both undergraduate and graduate school, I have greatly benefited from the high-quality public education offered by the campus, faculty and students. As a first-generation college student, coming from blue-collar K-12 schools, and being the child of Mexican immigrants, I have seen the vast life opportunities the University of California offers.

More important, I believe that in the long run the public will also benefit from my attending this fine university system. Starting this fall, I will be a tenure-track professor in the California State University system. My career has been dedicated to ensuring the academic success of all my students and especially those who are first-generation college students. The one expectation I have for all of my students is that one day they must give back to society and communities that need their support. Diversity and affirmative action benefits society.

Alexandro Jose

Gradilla PhD

Bell Gardens

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In the convoluted logic of this article, the chancellor seemed to be saying that the number of minority enrollees before Proposition 209 and after didn’t matter; the graduation rate remained the same. How could he then conclude that 209 “prevented many of California’s most able students from the opportunity of a Berkeley education”? He could just as easily conclude that if graduation rates remained the same, then the opportunity afforded those students admitted before 209 who didn’t graduate was wasted.

In my 20 years teaching in the inner city, I have learned that race and ethnicity are not a major factor in how well a student will do in an educational environment, higher or otherwise. To suggest that race is a primary factor is the worst kind of racism.

The only factors I have discovered that are significant are the socioeconomic level of the students’ parents and chronic discrimination against poorer students in this state, especially in our cities. Inner-city schools are overcrowded, populated with inexperienced teachers, shorted on textbooks and teaching materials and denied the classes that would prepare them to do well in higher education.

The only non-discriminating method of selecting students for higher education is to put all requests for admission in a lottery and draw. With the right remediation, motivation and economic support, students selected from poor districts, regardless of race or ethnicity, could be as successful as those who are born with all the advantages. Why must we always discriminate against the poor?

Michael Vetrie

Canyon Country