About 30 high school students and affirmative action supporters gathered at UC Berkeley Friday to call for increased underrepresented minority acceptances at the University of California.
At a press conference organized by the activist group BAMN, the group criticized the university’s underrepresented minority admittance rate for the 2012-13 school year. Five black and Hispanic students from local public high schools at the press conference are appealing admission to one or more UC campuses.
“I lacked parents who were citizens and who knew English,” said Marquez Monroe, a first-generation Hispanic Berkeley High School student. “I don’t know where I should go or where I should ask for help.”
BAMN attorneys Monica Smith and Ronald Cruz claim the university is trying to keep underrepresented student acceptances low to comply with Proposition 209, which bans affirmative action in California public schools and institutions. On April 2, a panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a challenge to the proposition brought forth by BAMN.
“Inequalities are institutional and not representative of individual failings,” Cruz said.
This is not the first time BAMN has protested UC admissions policies on campus.
BAMN and the Defend Affirmative Action student political party briefly occupied the campus registrar’s office April 6 to demand that the campus double the number of underrepresented minority students enrolled for the fall 2012 freshman class.
Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion Gibor Basri explained at the occupation that the university cannot consider race in admissions.
“This problem is more complicated than you’re presenting it,” he said.
The groups also held an April 8 press conference centered around Berkeley High School senior Aillen Zazueta-Bella, who planned to appeal her rejection from the campus.
Comment Policy
Comments should remain on topic, concerning the article or blog post to which they are connected. Brevity is encouraged. Posting under a pseudonym is discouraged, but permitted. The Daily Cal encourages readers to voice their opinions respectfully in regard to the readers, writers and contributors of The Daily Californian. Comments are not pre-moderated, but may be removed if deemed to be in violation of this policy. Click here to read the full comment policy.
GOD DAMN IT! Shut the fuck BAMN. You’re not the voice of the latino community. For those students who didn’t get in: tough shit. You failed to impress.
All BAMN (and similar organizations) do is keep racism alive. Being from certain ethnic group shouldn’t entitle you to ANYTHING. The playing field is unequal, yes. But that should give you all the incentive to work HARDER and OUTPERFORM everyone.
When BAMN loses we all win
“…use of SAT scores in the admissions processes artificially lowers the number of black and Latino students.”
I don’t think artificially means what you think it means:
artificially: not according to nature; not by natural means; “artificially induced conditions”.
The SAT is considered to be a very natural indicator of college success – it is a reasoning test after all. Students in countries like China and India would laugh at you for suggesting holistic admissions.
If you ask any engineering student doing well at Berkeley, I guarantee you that they had at least a 2300 on their SAT.
Awwwww…. poor blacks and latinos. All those first and second generation Asians and Indians making up around 35% of admits must be benefiting from white privilege and racism.