Law & Courts

Calif. Colleges Going All Out To Woo Minority Students

By Jessica L. Sandham — April 29, 1998 6 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The question was in the back of Kenya Croom’s mind all day long.

Accepted to both the University of California, Davis, and a small, historically black university on the East Coast, Ms. Croom wanted to know why she should choose a sprawling school with a shrinking number of minority students over a more intimate one full of “people who can relate to me all the time.”

Ms. Croom’s hosts, an ethnically mixed group of Davis upperclassmen who had gathered to talk with her and 15 other prospective black and Hispanic students earlier this month, didn’t offer any easy answers. But by praising the welcoming atmosphere and academics at UC-Davis, the upperclassmen did give Ms. Croom reason to think about the 17,000-student university a little differently, she said later.

“When I got rejected from [UC-]Berkeley, I said I didn’t want to go to a white school,” said Ms. Croom, who was also accepted at the 3,700-student Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta. “But the people are nice here. I feel like maybe they need me. It does look like they need black people.”

Stiff Competition

That kind of firsthand perspective is exactly what UC-Davis recruiters hope will sway the 16 Los Angeles-area minority students they flew in for a recent daylong visit to the rural campus 20 miles east of Sacramento.

As at most of the seven other undergraduate University of California campuses, the number of black, Hispanic, and Native American students admitted to UC-Davis dropped significantly this spring. It’s the first time undergraduate admissions have been affected by Proposition 209, the 1996 California ballot measure that prohibited the state’s public colleges from using racial and gender preferences in admissions.

The number of black students accepted to UC-Davis fell by 36 percent, the number of Hispanics by 20 percent, and the number of American Indians by 18 percent, compared with last year. The drops came even after admissions officers expanded outreach efforts to minority students and broadened admissions criteria to give preference to low-income students and those who would be the first in their families to attend college.

Though admittedly disappointed that their efforts failed to produce more minority acceptances, UC-Davis officials don’t have time to dwell on those numbers. Students must notify the school of their intention to enroll by May 1, leaving the university scrambling to reach the prospective students who remain undecided.

Because the colorblind standards imposed by Proposition 209 do not extend to outreach, UC-Davis in recent weeks has been avidly wooing the minority students who were accepted in an effort to ensure that the school’s eventual “yield” is as diverse as possible.

The university sponsored several campus visitation days for students in central and northern California and paid a total of $2,300 for the airfare and food costs of the group of 16 students visiting from Los Angeles.

UC-Davis officials say the competition for minority students has never been stiffer. The university is going head to head with private colleges and universities in California and other states, as well as other University of California campuses conducting equally aggressive outreach campaigns.

“We’re targeting underrepresented students with calls and mailings,” said Gary Tudor, the director of undergraduate admissions and outreach services at UC-Davis. “We try to have at least one personal contact, and try to make sure that they get here prior to making a decision. We’re being more aggressive than ever before.”

Mixed Emotions

The Los Angeles-area high school seniors who were selected for the April 14 day trip to Davis could not otherwise have afforded to make the 380-mile journey, said Cecilia Medina, a 23-year-old UC-Davis graduate who has worked with the students during the past year as a Southern California regional coordinator for the university.

A Los Angeles native who grew up in housing projects, Ms. Medina knows how a 6,000-acre campus where the only major crime is bicycle theft can seem a world apart from the city streets where the students grew up.

“They’ve never been away from home before,” Ms. Medina said. “But now they see it’s possible. They see they can succeed in spite of obstacles.”

Weaving through campus in an open-air tour bus, the students excitedly snapped pictures of a tree-lined brook and giggled at the sight of the cows that live in the university’s agricultural facilities.

A few of the students said they’re sure that UC-Davis is their school. Some were fairly certain it isn’t. But the majority in the middle saw this trip as a decisionmaker, one that would allow them to choose between Davis and the other schools at the top of their lists.

“I feel special,” said Eric Gonzalez, a senior at Burmingham High School in the San Fernando Valley, who will likely attend a local community college if he decides not to go to UC-Davis. “I feel like they want us. It’s like an investor looking to invest and wanting to impress you.”

Rejected at two other UC campuses, Mr. Gonzalez said he feels fortunate just to have been accepted to UC-Davis after Proposition 209 went into effect.

“You just have to work hard,” Mr. Gonzalez said. “I knew the chances weren’t so good. I’m sure I would feel differently if I hadn’t gotten in anywhere.”

But for other students, including Ms. Croom, being admitted to UC-Davis feels bittersweet. While pleased with the acceptance, they’re disappointed about being turned down by the university system’s more competitive campuses at Los Angeles and Berkeley. They say they can’t help but feel that if they had applied last year, things would have been different.

“This year I got hurt by the end of affirmative action,” Ms. Croom said.

One student on the day trip, senior Tuni Calloway, feels confident she’ll go to the University of California, Los Angeles, in the fall, even though her parents want her to go to UC-Davis. A recent reception hosted by black UCLA alumni clinched the choice for her.

“They really pushed UCLA,” Ms. Calloway said. “It feels like they want the best for me.”

‘No Clear Answer’

Even officials at UC-Berkeley, one of the top public universities in the nation, fear that the limited number of black, Hispanic, and American Indian students they accepted will go elsewhere. More than ever before, the minority students admitted there are academically “stellar” and are likely being pursued by Ivy League universities and other elite schools, said Jesus Mena, a spokesman for the 22,000-student university.

When UC-Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl learned that the number of black students accepted at his campus dropped by 66 percent from last year, and the number of Hispanic students by 53 percent, he postponed a planned two-week fund-raising tour of Asia. Mr. Berdahl has instead spent much of his time calling prospective minority students and meeting them at receptions around the state.

“It’s very important for a public university to be integrated,” said Patrick Hayashi, the associate vice chancellor of admissions and enrollment at UC-Berkeley. “To not try our hardest would be irresponsible.”

But to the dozens of students who gathered outside the Berkeley administration building for a recent protest rally, the university’s post-admissions efforts don’t go far enough.

Waving banners with phrases like “1898 or 1998?,” members of UC-Berkeley’s black student union organized the rally “to voice our outrage and to demand that students be given equal education,” said senior Tanisha Grimes.

Students passed around a petition that called on the university to immediately admit 800 underrepresented students who were turned down despite having 4.0 grade point averages and SAT scores of at least 1200.

But even while UC-Berkeley officials value diversity, they cannot defy California law, Mr. Hayashi said.

“With our 30,000 applications, we could probably admit three very strong classes that would be the envy of the world,” Mr. Hayashi said. “There’s no clear answer.”

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Law & Courts Oklahoma Nonbinary Student's Death Shines a Light on Families' Legal Recourse for Bullying
Students facing bullying and harassment from their peers face legal roadblocks in suing districts, but settlements appear to be on the rise
11 min read
A photograph of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary teenager who died a day after a fight in a high school bathroom, is projected during a candlelight service at Point A Gallery, on Feb. 24, 2024, in Oklahoma City. Federal officials will investigate the Oklahoma school district where Benedict died, according to a letter sent by the U.S. Department of Education on March 1, 2024.
A photograph of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary teenager who died a day after a fight in a high school restroom, is projected during a candlelight service at Point A Gallery, on Feb. 24, 2024, in Oklahoma City. Federal officials will investigate the Oklahoma school district where Benedict died, according to a letter sent by the U.S. Department of Education on March 1, 2024.
Nate Billings/The Oklahoman via AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Declines Case on Selective High School Aiming to Boost Racial Diversity
Some advocates saw the K-12 case as the logical next step after last year's decision against affirmative action in college admissions
7 min read
Rising seniors at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology gather on the campus in Alexandria, Va., Aug. 10, 2020. From left in front are, Dinan Elsyad, Sean Nguyen, and Tiffany Ji. From left at rear are Jordan Lee and Shibli Nomani. A federal appeals court’s ruling in May 2023 about the admissions policy at the elite public high school in Virginia may provide a vehicle for the U.S. Supreme Court to flesh out the intended scope of its ruling Thursday, June 29, 2023, banning affirmative action in college admissions.
A group of rising seniors at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology gather on the campus in Alexandria, Va., in August 2020. From left in front are, Dinan Elsyad, Sean Nguyen, and Tiffany Ji. From left at rear are Jordan Lee and Shibli Nomani. The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 declined to hear a challenge to an admissions plan for the selective high school that was facially race neutral but designed to boost the enrollment of Black and Hispanic students.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Law & Courts School District Lawsuits Against Social Media Companies Are Piling Up
More than 200 school districts are now suing the major social media companies over the youth mental health crisis.
7 min read
A close up of a statue of the blindfolded lady justice against a light blue background with a ghosted image of a hands holding a cellphone with Facebook "Like" and "Love" icons hovering above it.
iStock/Getty
Law & Courts In 1974, the Supreme Court Recognized English Learners' Rights. The Story Behind That Case
The Lau v. Nichols ruling said students have a right to a "meaningful opportunity" to participate in school, but its legacy is complex.
12 min read
Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court William O. Douglas is shown in an undated photo.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, shown in an undated photo, wrote the opinion in <i>Lau</i> v. <i>Nichols</i>, the 1974 decision holding that the San Francisco school system had denied Chinese-speaking schoolchildren a meaningful opportunity to participate in their education.
AP