Monday, March 26, 2007

Does UCLA really want to increase African American freshmen enrollment? (I think not)

UCLA has made "positive" changes in the way they admit incoming freshman, but this change doesn't imply there will be an increase in Black student enrollment. According to the Los Angeles Times, "The change was made after figures, released last summer, showed that only about 100 African American students (out of 4,500 accepted), or about 2% of the freshman class, would enroll at UCLA for the current academic year. The number, the lowest in more than 30 years, prompted UCLA leaders to declare an admissions crisis and push for the new system. But under Proposition 209, the state's 1996 voter-approved ban on affirmative action, the university cannot consider race in its admissions decisions". The change to the way students are admitted to UCLA was to increase the number of Black students, however, this will be unlikely because the school refers to proposition 209 to not take race into consideration. Are they just trying to keep the Black people to a minimum? It seems like the only Black people they are concerned about getting admitted to their school are the ones that are bringing in the big bucks from winning games that take them to the final four. Does it just seem as if the only Black people who are at major university schools are the ones that play for the team?

4 comments:

Vanessa said...

I think economic hardship should be a factor in acceptance decisions...not race. Since there is a percentage of overlap in those categories, I think that would alleviate the situation somewhat.

Daniel said...

The key factor for more young blacks to enter into universities should be something economically. If the universities or the governments can offer more scholarship to young black, there will be more blacks in freshman class of all universities.

Daniel Pennant
www.ebonyfriends.com/i/blog

Liberty said...

I agree that economic hardship should be a factor in the decisions that are made for the acceptance committee. However, why do you feel that race should not be a factor?

Liberty said...

I agree Daniel that more young people will be afforded the opportunity to attend a university if more scholarships are provided. I have a black friend who got accepted to USC and was not able to go because he could not afford the tuition.