Don't let college life mask societal ills

Friday, February 26, 1999

ADMISSIONS: Students must urge universities to reconsider ethnicity

By Portia Pedro

As I was walking down Bruin Walk the other day, I heard yet another student (myself) complain about the never ending construction. While I know the constant tearing down and rebuilding of our campus does merit some complaints, it still sent off some strange alarms in my head. Have I become so engulfed in "college life" that construction is the most profound social ill that concerns me? Why is this?

In order to address this dilemma, I look to the many warped messages that bombard us every day. In the interest of time we'll say it began with our acceptance into this fine institution.

We are told continuously about how special, gifted and talented we are to have been selected as the few women and men given the opportunity to come here, and we actually start to believe it. We start to believe that education is a limited resource that is only available for a select few. For many of us, this means that some people do not deserve to be here because they aren't smart enough or aren't willing to work hard enough. Coincidentally, the majority of "those people" that don't have the right to be here also tend to be people of color.

But this is not merely a coincidence. We must be wary of the idea that the number of people allowed to receive a higher education should be limited to those who are worthy, because it involves two major assumptions. One assumption is that educational resources are limited and no change in the educational system can alter this fact. The second assumption is that we can and have established an objective way of measuring how "worthy" a person is to receive an education.

Many people promoted anti-affirmative action policies as a means to achieve a true meritocracy in admissions. A meritocracy is a system that evaluates people for advancement solely on achievement or ability. Some people think that taking gender, race and ethnicity into account prevented the UC admissions from being meritocratic.

Now, applicants are evaluated by their GPA, SAT score and sometimes by their essays and extracurricular activities without even considering the undeniable obstacles that people of color face everyday. Many people have realized that these criteria alone are not sufficient to evaluate a person's "merit" and have come up with some additional criteria.

One proposal is to take the student's economic background into account, but as racism affects people of color in all classes, this is not efficient.

Looking at socioeconomic factors has also been proposed. As ethnicity is a determinant of a person's status and treatment in society, however, even a socioeconomic evaluation must include race.

For example: I didn't grow up in poverty, I was raised by both of my parents, and I went to a privileged college preparatory high school; being a black woman, however, made my life different from a "white" person in the same situation.

For instance, one of the many white supremacists I came across in Old Town Pasadena didn't hesitate to ask me if my family was middle class before he called me a "nigger bitch" and told me I wasn't worth shit.

An anonymous coward didn't take the time to ask about my previous educational opportunities before sending me a letter that, to put it mildly, included a racist death threat to step down from a scholarship competition in which I was participating.

And the teacher I had a few years ago never asked me about my GPA or SAT scores before telling me that I should focus on playing sports and dancing with the rest of my people because that's "all you'll really do good at anyway."

It was also just last summer when a skinhead at Knott's Berry Farm was so repulsed by my presence that he forgot to ask how many Advanced Placement classes I had taken and decided to spit on me instead.

These events are all true and if I made any inaccuracy in recounting them, it is that I understated their effect on me. Needless to say, being a woman of color has had a great impact on my life due to social and institutionalized racism and sexism. This is completely ignored when I, a human being, am compressed to a GPA, SAT score and sometimes extra-curricular activities.

Surely, not every person of color has experienced these exact occurrences and, conversely, not every "white" person's life has been completely free from all forms of hatred. These incidences, however, whether subtle (as with the teacher) or overt (as with the white supremacists) occur mainly in the lives of people of color. Most people of color are subjected to this type of treatment at many points in their lives. Thus, to ignore the impact made on people's lives because of their ethnicity, but to still take into account the effect of cheerleading, or other such activities - all done in the name of "meritocracy" and "fairness" - is not only incredulous, but also an extreme insult.

With the aggressive implementation of Proposition 209, which resulted in the end of affirmative action, the administration of this university is literally slamming the door shut on students of color. They have claimed that they are trying to avoid this, but it seems that they continually refuse to try to make even the minimum effort to reform admissions.

Even UCLA's Alumni Association has agreed that admissions reform is badly needed. The association formed a committee on the issue, evaluated the current admissions standards, and submitted a proposal that includes reforms that are all feasible within the law. But the Academic Senate and the administration have completely disregarded the Alumni Association's suggestions, continuing their legacy of all talk, no action.

For the past seven years the population of people of color in the state of California and the city of Los Angeles is rising while the numbers in this university have virtually dwindled (the number of Pilipinos in the freshman class is approximately 190 out of 4,000 students (4.8 percent), the number of African American freshmen is 170 (4 percent), while the number of Native Americans is 28 (0.7 percent).

With the way things are going, the only way people of color will be able to get on campus is by working here. This is completely intolerable. As students, it is our responsibility to step out of the safe-haven of apathy to hold the administration, specifically the chancellor, as well as the Academic Senate, accountable to us. This is, after all, a "public" university.

We must all look outside our campus comfort zone and eliminate the feelings of excellence (elitism) that is obstructing our sight. It is very easy to become caught up in the dilemmas of student life, but that is not an excuse; it is an escape. We, as students, are trying to avoid taking a stance by simplifying our worries to parking, housing and the increasing construction.

In no way am I denying the importance of these issues, I merely want us to remind ourselves that a very privileged few in society are even given the option of dealing with the "problems" of being a student at UCLA.

The true problem is one of social and institutionalized racism and elitism. We must remember that having the privilege of going to UCLA involves not only the responsibility of personal and individual success, but also the responsibility of fighting to make sure that the door is held open for others. We cannot just sit around atop the hills of Westwood and hope that the situation fixes itself.

We must take a stand.

The acceptance numbers for the class of 1999-2000 will be released around Spring Break so it is urgent, now, that we elevate the intensity of the campaign for affirmative action and repealing SP-1 and SP-2.

Many concrete steps are already being taken to further this issue and demand changes in the admissions policies. It is a crucial time for us all to become more aware of the issue and get more involved.

Anyone who has questions or is interested can contact the Asian Pacific Coalition, Raza Women, Samahang Pilipino, African Student Union, Undergraduate Students Association Council (student government), or you can come to the Affirmative Action Coalition meetings every Wednesday from 7-8:30 p.m. in the second floor Kerckhoff Art Gallery.

Pedro is the Community Empowerment Coordinator of the African Student Union.

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