Daily Californian
UC Berkeley
March 31, 1998
A Message to the Campus Community
By Robert M. Berdahl
Chancellor,
University of California, Berkeley
There has understandably been a great deal of interest locally and nationally in the outcome of our admissions cycle for fall '98 incoming freshmen, the first to be conducted following enactment of the new state law that precludes the use of race or ethnicity as a permissible factor in college admission decisions.
This year we received a record 30,000 applications from exceptional students. Our admissions professionals have done a remarkable job -- not just for the campus, but for each of the high school seniors who have applied to Berkeley. Their applications received the most careful, individual assessment we could hope to give them.
We are able to offer admission to about 8,000 students -- just 27 percent of those who applied -- with the aim of enrolling a freshman class of about 3,500.
Given the new law and the tremendous competition for admission, we knew that we could expect significant changes in the composition of our entering class. With the admissions process essentially completed, the percentages of African American, Chicano, Latino and American Indian students in the pool of admitted students have dropped significantly.
Taken together the proportion of African American, Chicano, Latino and American Indian students among new freshman admits for fall '98 is 10.4 percent, down from 23.1 percent for fall '97. The proportion of Asian students increased to 38.3 percent from 35.5 percent in fall '97; and white students comprise 34.2 percent of the admit pool compared with 33.1 percent last fall. The numbers for underrepresented minority students are very disappointing.
I would urge, though, some restraint in how this outcome is viewed. My own personal emotions are a mixture of disappointment, anger, frustration, hope and resolve. It would be too easy for advocates on either side of the debate to point fingers and say I told you so. I do not believe, at this point, that this would be especially constructive, and I think it could do a great deal of harm in the long run. Rather than make pronouncements that could be damaging and ill-informed, it seems to me, this is the time in which to ask questions and look for answers. Certainly at Berkeley we are asking what this means for us, especially in the short run. To educators, legislators, parents and Californians as a whole there are bigger and more profound questions that will need answers.
What we do know is that the new law is in place and at Berkeley we have tried to faithfully implement it. We anticipated that it would have an effect on underrepresented minorities, for example that it might keep some highly qualified students from applying. So we substantially increased our recruitment efforts and as a result, applications from these groups remained high. We also created the most comprehensive admissions review process permitted under the law.
I can tell you that personally I am very disappointed that our entering class will not better represent the impressive diversity that distinguishes this state. I believe that students learn from each other as much as they do from their classes and professors and that a student body that is not as diverse as we have come to enjoy is a loss to the entire university community.
From the chancellorships of Heyman and Tien, this campus has been committed to the goal of achieving excellence and diversity. Let me assure you that we remain committed to our mission of excellence and diversity.
I can also tell you that we know from our own experience that a great many of the underrepresented minority students who were not offered admission would have succeeded here and would have contributed to the excellence of this university. All of our statistics show this to be true. For example, today 85 percent of our students graduate. In comparison, in the mid-'50s when we had a much more homogeneous student population, just 55 percent of the undergraduates graduated within 10 years. Minority graduation rates have improved each year and our minority alumni have gone on to be successful leaders. To suggest, by implication, that they should not have been admitted in the first place is to devalue their experience and their contribution.
The downside to being so selective is that we must make admissions decisions among students of superb achievement and enormous potential. The students to whom we could not offer admission will go to other excellent universities, including other UC campuses, and to prestigious private institutions -- this is especially true of high performing minority students. I believe this will be a loss for Berkeley, and if they leave the state, for the future leadership of California.
The new admissions process instituted this year was designed not only to take into account the new law, but also to be as flexible and individual as possible. Over the next several months we will carefully evaluate how well it worked. I imagine that it will be fine-tuned somewhat and I am certain that it will evolve over time, as admissions processes everywhere always do.
But we must be realistic. Most of the UC campuses that have reported their admissions outcomes for the fall are not greatly different than Berkeley. We all are operating in an environment that provides for limited flexibility.
In the short run my greatest concern is that news of the substantial drop in underrepresented minority students in the admit pool will serve to dampen the aspirations of young students and those who advise them in junior high and high schools. Berkeley as the oldest and preeminent public university in California has played -- and should play -- an important role for all California students. We give the very best students a goal on which to set their sights. For the past decade and longer California's high school students from all backgrounds and ethnicities have had a reasonable hope of attending UC Berkeley. Now our job is to build a new foundation for preserving that hope in a new environment.
To start, we need to keep in mind that admissions decisions are not the end of the process in assembling our fall class. Ultimately what is key are the students who accept our offer. This campus intends to do all that is possible to encourage African American, Chicano, Latino and Native American students who have been admitted to enroll. I will personally phone as many of these students as I can and I am asking our faculty and staff and student leaders to join me in this effort. I will be visiting high schools in the state to urge all students admitted to Berkeley, and especially students of color, to become a part of our learning community.
In addition, we will continue with our highly successful outreach program to improve academic achievement among K-12 students attending schools in disadvantaged areas. The Berkeley Pledge, as it is called, has shown remarkable success and we are extremely proud of it. But we must remember that its goal is to develop an outreach model for how universities can help improve K-12 schooling. It will not, in and of itself, solve the problem of inequalities of educational opportunity in California schools.
If we are to keep hope and aspirations alive for these students -- students who represent a significant proportion of California's population-- and if we are to assure that Berkeley will continue to educate the social, political and business leaders of this increasingly diverse state, then the job before us goes beyond what we alone can do.
Leveling the playing field of educational opportunity must start in first grade, not when students apply to college. We, as educators and parents and legislators, must value all of our children equally and provide for their educational opportunity equally. Nothing less will do if we are to expect them to compete for a place in their state's premiere public university. And I ask, how can we not?
To all the students who applied to Berkeley but were not admitted, I would tell them that this year's applicants were remarkable for their high quality and I wish we were able to offer admission to more of them. And to those students who have been admitted I can promise on behalf of this campus that we welcome all of you here and we will make certain you receive the best education we can provide.