The Letter from UCLA Chancellor,感到压力开始造势了？

萃阁 · 2014-02-24 22:19:37Z

The Letter from UCLA Chancellor,感到压力开始造势了？简介

来源: 萃阁于 2014-02-24 22:19:37 [档案] [旧帖] [给我悄悄话] 本文已被阅读：次 (5784 bytes)

The Impact of Proposition 209 and Our Duty to Our Students

To the Campus Community:

Nearly two decades have passed since Californians voted to end affirmative a
ction in admission to public colleges and universities. Today it is clear th
at we have suffered for it.

With each passing year, campuses all across our state — and, increasingly,
as copycat laws are passed, the nation — fail to accurately reflect the gro
wing diversity in our communities. Too often, many of our students of color
feel isolated, as strangers in their own house. Others feel targeted, mocked
or marginalized, rather than recognized and valued.

At UCLA, our students are bold, confident and among the sharpest anywhere. W
e are proud when they convey their thoughts, experiences and feelings — as
they have done recently in several now-viral videos and by organizing town h
alls and rallies.

Anyone still unconvinced by the true impact of Proposition 209 need only lis
ten to our students’ powerful first-hand accounts. Their words, of course,
are much bigger than UCLA — and it’s not surprising that they have found a
national audience. We need only to look at the remarkable and numerous acco
mplishments of alumni from now-underrepresented groups who attended UCLA bef
ore Proposition 209 to fully recognize the disservice we do to California an
d our nation when other talented and deserving students are absent from our
Bruin family.

Working within the letter of the law, we have tried to address the issues ca
used by Proposition 209. In recent years, UCLA has begun evaluating the full
range of each applicant’s academic and personal achievements, within the c
ontext of opportunities and challenges each has faced. And yet we continue t
o fall far short of the diversity California’s public colleges and universi
ties enjoyed before voters approved Proposition 209 in 1996.

While it’s important to understand that Proposition 209 is the underlying c
ause of many of these issues — and a cause that some leaders in our state a
re now looking to reverse — simply hoping that things will get easier is un
acceptable. We must and will continue to search for new and innovative ways
to achieve diversity within the confines of the law, but as Californians we
must also rethink a flawed policy and find a way to better serve our student
s.

We must do more. We have a responsibility to do better.

Today I call upon my UCLA faculty colleagues to re-examine the creation of a
n undergraduate general education requirement focused on diversity. Ours is
the only UC campus that does not have one. We have no excuses. Let’s make t
his happen in 2014. While it will not impact the diversity of our campus to
the extent we would like, a diversity requirement would enrich all of our st
udents’ experiences here and better prepare them to live and work in a comp
lex global environment. We owe it to our students to effect curricular chang
es that add to the understanding and appreciation of our nation’s diversity
.

I also want to assure you that our previously promised efforts to strengthen
campus diversity and equity are well underway. The Moreno Report Implementa
tion Committee, chaired by Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Scott Waugh
, is fully engaged in its work and will give me a full update at the end of
this academic year. With the help of the committee, we also are finalizing a
job description for the new position of vice chancellor for equity, diversi
ty and inclusion, and we expect to announce the search by the end of next qu
arter.

In addition, we will soon post positions for two diversity officers who will
report to the new vice chancellor and investigate any reported allegations
of racial and ethnic bias or discrimination among our faculty as well as pro
viding education and training.

Try as we might to overcome racism, bigotry, isolation and anger, we know we
’re going to confront them again, on our campus and in the world beyond. Th
e offensive flyer sent to our Asian American Studies Center recently was ano
ther horrifying reminder. What matters is how we respond. We must support ea
ch other. We must listen to one another.

Make no mistake: Conversations about race can be very difficult. They are in
evitably emotional. They can make people defensive. They sometimes lead to a
ccusations. But we cannot be afraid to have these conversations, because the
y are so critically important to our university and to society. And if we ca
nnot have productive discussions about race here, on a campus with the world
’s thought leaders and with students committed to knowledge and inquiry, th
en where can we?

While we may have different ideas on strategy, we all want a campus that emb
races and elevates each of us. And that’s why we must continue talking, deb
ating and looking for solutions.

Most important of all, we must learn to trust one another. I also appreciate
that trust is earned, and we must and will work harder to earn it, even amo
ng our critics.

Sincerely,

Gene D. Block