1999 to 5-16-2001

Petition to Reverse the Ban on Affirmative Action in the UC System

Whereas

1. In July 1995, when the Regents of the University of California adopted the ban on affirmative action in the UC system, their action sparked a national attack on affirmative action and integration.
2. Now, five years later, it is clear that the Regents' ban has dramatically narrowed educational opportunity for black, Chicano/a, Latino/a, Native American and other underrepresented minority students in California, and has had a negative impact on the education of all students.
3. The Regents' ban is an obstacle to the recruitment of underrepresented minority students, especially at the two UC flagship campuses (UC Berkeley and UCLA), and at UC law schools, UC medical schools, and other UC graduate schools.
4. The Regents' ban has created an environment in the UC system in which black, Chicano/a, Latino/a, Native American and other underrepresented minority students feel unwelcome. Each day that passes with the ban still in place increases the sense among black, Chicano/a, Latino/a, Native American and other underrepresented minority students that the Regents do not care about them or the environment in which they have to go to school.
5. The UC system must open its doors to all students in California. It must be a beacon for progress and equality, not resegregation.
6. The Regents' reversing the ban will send a loud and clear message to the entire country that the attack on affirmative action and integration is a historic mistake that must not continue and must be reversed.

We, the undersigned, demand that the University of California Regents reverse the ban on affirmative action in the UC system now.

Petition inactive

This petition is co-sponsored by the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) student government at UC Berkeley, the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), and the Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP).