The year 2006 has already brought us an incoming freshmen class
with the lowest number of black students since 1973, a drastically
low number of American Indian students and a highly disproportional
number of Chicana/o students.
This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the passage of
Proposition 209, a 1996 California ballot proposition which amended
the state constitution to prohibit public institutions from using
affirmative action. In addition, UCLA will see its new chancellor,
and there is no doubt that these events go hand in hand.
This campus needs to see a chancellor who will work actively to
ensure that UCLA is diverse and accessible, especially to
underrepresented communities. The next chancellor should be one who
meets with students to converse about admissions while allowing
members of the community to partake in the discussions about a
university that also belongs to them.
Immediately after the passage of Proposition 209, UCLA
implemented the comprehensive review admissions policy in hopes of
rectifying the situation, but we still do not see the results that
this implementation was supposed to bring.
Recently, an Academic Senate committee voted to transition into
a new holistic admissions process that would look at
students’ achievements in the context of their personal
experiences. Although a step in the right direction, this change
would only serve as a bandage for a larger problem of access to
UCLA.
As ridiculous as it sounds, very few students are a part of the
chancellor search committee and the overall process. There is only
one undergraduate and one graduate student on the committee, even
though students are the largest constituency at any university.
With that in mind, the search committee must focus on appointing a
chancellor who has experience in public higher education working
directly with students and who also understands research, education
and community engagement, the pillars of UCLA.
The chancellor must be able to understand the needs of students
at a public university like UCLA. Otherwise, we risk student
disenfranchisement and further national embarrassment as the
admissions of underrepresented communities continue to decline.
It is important to note that students have a history of activism
and are not afraid to take action when the chancellor ignores
them.
The new chancellor has to understand his or her direct
accountability to the students and the families of California.
As it says on numerous signs across campus, on the school Web
site and even in commercials between football games, UCLA is owned
by the people of California. All 36 million. Shouldn’t the
university reflect the diverse populace that owns it?
For this to happen, the next chancellor must champion diversity,
work with students, and advocate equal access for all
communities.
The students demand access for all, and the chancellor has a
responsibility to fulfill those demands.
Cendana is the 2006-2007 Undergraduate Students Association
Council internal vice president. He is a third-year sociology
student.