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The following transcripts are available: Senator Hernandez at 1:40 - 4:55
Michael Trevino (UC admission director) at 20:38- 23:37
Hernandez at 1:40 - 4:55:
"SCA 5 is a constitutional amendment that aims to repeal the prohibitions on consideration of race
in California's public institutions of higher education, specifically at the UC, the CSUs
and our community colleges. These prohibitions on race consideration that passed into law
under the guise of a civil rights initiative effectively weakened and eliminated existing
constitutional and statutory protections from discrimination against underrepresented minorities
and women.
Proposition 209 was drafted in a way that effectively eliminated programs designed to
recruit, retain, provide scholarships, and give consideration to students that came from
historically discriminated backgrounds. That includes but is not limited to Latinos, African
Americans, Native Americans, and women.
Proponents of 209 would argue that a program designed to specifically attract women to
a STEM field, for example, is somehow reverse discrimination against men. The U.S. Supreme
Court has consistently ruled that race should only be used in a narrow[ly] tailored fashion.
What that means exactly is the subject of much debate. What we do know is that according
to Richard Atkinson, previous President of the UC, before Proposition 209 took effect,
underrepresented minority students accounted for 38% of California high school graduates
and 21% of entering University of California freshmen, a difference of 17%. In 2004, they
made up 45% of high school graduates but had fallen to 18% of incoming freshmen, a difference
of 27%. And that's only in 2004. Enrollment decreases at UC Berkeley and UCLA have been
even steeper, the flagship schools.
A blanket prohibition on the consideration of race was a mistake in 1996, and we are
still suffering the consequences from this failed initiative today. Our colleges and
universities are a workforce pipeline, and they need the tools to educate our next generation
of leaders here in the great state of California. According to the California Health Foundation,
only 5% of all doctors in California are Latino. That does not nearly represent our demographic
and is already posing problems for delivery in our healthcare systems. These are reasons
why the California Medical Association, the Hospital Association, the pharmacists, nurses,
primary care providers and other professional associations are supporting this effort. If
we recruit qualified students, of all races from these communities to pursue a higher
education, they are more likely than anyone else to return and serve in those particular
communities. SCA 5 ensures that the State maintains its commitment to produce a diverse
and well-educated generation of leaders."
Michael Trevino at 20:38- 23:37
"In 1998 the year that Proposition 209 was implemented, the number of African American,
Latino, and American Indian freshman, particularly at UCLA and Berkeley, did drop by over 50%.
We have made some improvements since those drops, and I appreciate your sharing those
statistics, Senator Wyland, yeah, because those are correct. We just posted those up
on the website, those numbers.
We have made some progress in terms of these numbers, but we have not yet fully recovered
in terms of the percentages as to where they were prior to Prop 209.
In terms of the systemwide numbers, I should say, for African Americans they are now about
4.3% systemwide, and we do see some shifting across the campuses. They are particularly
lower in the most selective campuses, particularly Berkeley and UCLA. The Latino numbers, as
you point out, the data is where we have this really significant gap. The Latino numbers
now葉hen I should say擁n 1997 they were systemwide about 13.2% in 1997 and they have
increased now to, as you cite, over 26%.
But much of this is a function of the demographics葉his increase in the percentage擁n combination
with the different changes that we made in our admissions processes: adding holistic
review, which similar to the example you give with the medical school, where we look at
things that are beyond academic indicators such as GPAs and test scores. We look at the
context in terms of what the student has done, similar to the leading private universities悠
think the university that you
are most familiar with謡e do review similar to what they do now, with
the exception that they are able to consider race, ethnicity, or gender
as
a factor, and
we
are unable to do so.
So we still have a gap. If you look at the percentage of the demographics, in 2012 underrepresented students constituted
54% of Califoria graduates. If you look
at the UC eligibility pool, 39% of those students graduating
completed the A萌 course pattern, yet are entering the UC freshman class in terms of
underrepresented minorities systemwide, it is about 31%.
So
we still
have this gap that
we
are
trying to close, but it is
very challenging."