Sacramento – Assemblymember Anthony Portantino (D - La Cañada Flintridge), Chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, today announced the introduction of ACR 21, an Assembly Resolution which urges the UCs to establish a student exchange program with Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  The goal of the program would be to address the student diversity shortfall since the passage of Proposition 209 in 1996.

“Although there’s much debate about the causes, no one can dispute the numbers we’re seeing at UC campuses throughout the state,” said Assemblymember Anthony Portantino.  “The question before us now is what can we do to enhance diversity with a post-209 set of rules?”

“As I campaigned door to door, I found that many California families want to have a homogenous education but also want to stay close to home.  ACR 21 would offer the best and brightest students from California and throughout the U.S. the best of both – a quality UC experience and the chance to study at an Historically Black College or University.”

Proposition 209 prohibits the state, local governments, districts, public universities, colleges, schools, and other government instrumentalities from giving preferential treatment to any individual or group in public employment, public education, or public contracting on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin.  Even before the initiative took effect for the fall 1998 class, the debate and discussion surrounding affirmative action was felt immediately -- the number of undergraduate applications for underrepresented students (American Indian, African American, and Latino) fell to 18.1 percent.  While that number has improved somewhat through university outreach efforts, campuses are still not reflective of California’s diverse population.

“How can we say our campuses have achieved diversity when UCLA’s freshman class has 96 African-Americans?  If a campus in the heart of a racially dynamic area like Los Angeles can’t enroll more than 100 African-Americans out of a class of 4,600, something is amiss,” Portantino said in reference to UCLA’s freshman class. 

ACR 21 is co-authored by Assembly Majority Leader supported by the Legislative Black Caucus.  This measure will be heard before the Assembly Higher Education Committee on February 27th at 1:30 in Room 437.