Following are statements from UC President Richard C. Atkinson and Provost C. Judson King regarding passage of Prop. 209.
November 6, 1996
Dear Colleagues:
The voters have approved Proposition 209 and the University of California will comply with the law. At my request, Provost C. Judson King has written to the University's Chancellors today to give them specific guidance about implementing the language of Proposition 209. We are well along in this process as a result of The Regents' action last year eliminating race, gender, and ethnicity as factors in admission, hiring, and contracting. We have also worked hard during the past year to make it clear that the University continues to welcome students, faculty, and staff from throughout California's increasingly diverse society.
Now we must also look to the broader issue of how, in light of Proposition 209, we can best fulfill our responsibilities as a public university in the nation's most ethnically and culturally diverse state.
One idea has tended to unite people on all sides of this extraordinarily divisive and passionate debate. It is that diversity is an asset to California and can only be achieved by extending educational opportunity to disadvantaged young people. The question facing education is clear: How do we establish new paths to diversity consistent with the law?
I intend to take the following steps:
I. We will accelerate our efforts to strengthen and expand our outreach programs. The University of California was one of the first to establish such programs over thirty years ago, and ours have been among the most successful in the nation. Today we spend more than $100 million a year on campus and systemwide programs that serve students and the K-12 schools. But the need far outstrips our resources. We need to reach more students and to coordinate our programs across the system to make the best possible use of the University's wealth of talent and expertise.
II. We will reinvigorate our partnership with California's K-12 schools. UC already has over 800 programs that offer tutoring and counseling for students, professional development for teachers, applied and collaborative research for the improvement of schools. Now we need to involve the University more broadly than ever before in schools and community colleges that serve large numbers of disadvantaged and minority students. We will give special attention to the ways in which the new learning technologies can magnify the impact of our efforts.
III. The report of the UC Outreach Task Force, due in February of 1997, will be key to these efforts. It is reviewing the scope and success of our current outreach programs and will recommend specific strategies the University can use, in cooperation with the schools and the other higher education segments, to strengthen our programs and seek new sources of funding for them. The Task Force consists of leaders from the business world, education, and government. Together this distinguished team can do much more than any one of them could do separately.
IV. We have already set aside an additional $3 million in the University's budget to assist the campuses in launching new programs to help prepare more disadvantaged and low-income students for study at the University. We will seek further funding from the State to help us accomplish the steps I have just outlined, which must be taken if we are going to preserve the diversity essential to California's future.
V. Finally, a word about our hiring and contracting activities. I want to emphasize that the University continues to seek a diverse pool of applicants for jobs and contracts, consistent with Federal law, the Regents' resolution on hiring and contracting, and Proposition 209.
California is changing and so must we. What cannot change, however, is the University's historic responsibility to serve Californians of every background and condition, including greater numbers of disadvantaged young people. I am confident we have the individual and institutional resolve to keep the commitment to diversity alive for the next generation of Californians.
Sincerely,
Richard C. Atkinson
President
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November 6, 1996
CHANCELLORS
Dear Colleagues:
In light of yesterday's passage of Proposition 209, and the fact that it becomes law today, I am writing to provide you with specific guidance about how to implement the Proposition. I wish to reiterate that the University of California strongly is committed to the goal of a diverse faculty, staff and student body and will do all it can, under the law and within Regental policy, to achieve that goal.
The following specific steps that should be taken are based primarily on General Counsel Holst's October 4, 1996 letter regarding the potential impact on the University of Proposition 209. As pointed out in that letter, it is possible that there could be a court order prohibiting immediate implementation of Proposition 209; however, absent such an order, we should proceed with the steps indicated below:
1. Hiring and contracting programs:
Since Regents' resolution SP-2 went into effect on January 1, 1996, and contains the same prohibitions regarding preferences as does Proposition 209, there is no need to take any further action in these areas at this time.
2. Admissions programs:
Admissions decisions made after the date of this letter should not include consideration of race, sex, color, ethnicity or natural origin.
a. Graduate and Professional school admissions:
Regents' resolution SP-1 is in effect for graduate and professional students currently applying to the University, for admission to the Fall 1997 class. Under SP-1 race, sex, color, ethnicity and national origin are eliminated as selection criteria and, therefore, no further action need be taken.
b. Undergraduate admissions:
Implementation of SP-1 for undergraduate admissions was to take effect for students applying for enrollment for Spring 1998. However, in light of the passage of Proposition 209, effective immediately, campuses may no longer use race, ethnicity, sex or national origin as one of the supplemental criteria used to select admitted students from the pool of eligible students. Students are applying this month to enroll in Fall 1997. These applicants were notified of the possibility of such a change (see page 5 of the Application for Undergraduate Admission and Scholarship, 1997-98).
3. Financial aid:
The General Counsel has recommended the suspension of all future financial aid awards under which any recipient is advantaged or disadvantaged because of race, ethnicity, gender or national origin. Financial aid commitments to individual students made prior to the passage of the Proposition should continue to be honored. Students receiving financial aid awards under Federal financial programs in which race, ethnicity or gender is a condition of the aid, or must be a factor in distributing the aid, may continue to receive these awards. Under Proposition 209, the University can continue to accept and administer such Federal funds.
For financial aid programs funded through University or State funds, the University no longer may utilize race, ethnicity, national origin or gender as factors taken into account to select recipients for disbursement of these funds. Campuses may continue administering University financial support recruitment programs (i.e., the graduate level Academic Career Development Program, and various campus recruitment programs such as the Chancellor's Scholarships) as long as race, ethnicity and gender no longer are used as criteria for selecting aid recipients.
The University has received numerous gifts and endowment funds that contain specific requirements for distribution by race, ethnicity, gender or national origin. Policies and procedures for distribution of these funds are being reviewed by General Counsel and my office with regard to how to make appropriate uses of these funds.
4. Outreach programs:
The University has made commitments for the 1996-97 academic year to schools, students, counselors and employees affected by a variety of existing outreach programs. These programs are expected to continue and remain open to all students regardless of race, ethnicity and gender. Proposition 209 may ultimately be interpreted to require further action, but any action should be deferred pending review of the Outreach Task Force recommendations.
5. Other UC race, ethnic, or gender attentive programs:
There may be campus-based programs that utilize race, ethnicity, or gender as factors in determining eligibility to participate, even though such programs are not exclusionary. No immediate action should be required if membership for such programs for this year already has been determined. The Chancellors should assure that race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, or religion, are not considered in future eligibility determinations. My office, along with the General Counsel's office, will be available to work with the campuses in order to identify such programs and to develop appropriate changes that need to occur.
Please feel free to contact me or Assistant Vice President Galligani at (510) 987-9518 regarding clarification of these implementation procedures.
Sincerely,
C. Judson King
Provost and Senior Vice President
Academic Affairs