Public Comment

UC students on 10 UC campuses are organizing a day of action on Tuesday September 27th to call Governor Brown to express their support for Senate Bill 185. The UCSA Day of Action for SB 185 will be one of the largest call-in days for SB 185 with a goal of over 1,100 calls to the Governor. In response to our day of action, the Berkeley College Republicans have organized a deeply offensive “Bake Sale,” which misrepresents SB 185 and does nothing to further a constructive dialogue or positive campus climate.

“SB 185 allows the UC and CSU to consider race, ethnicity, gender and other relevant factors during the admissions process. Having knowledge of an individual applicant’s racial or ethnic background will allow the University to have a more accurate understanding of a person’s background and make a more informed admission decision. UC students strongly support this bill, and will be taking action to let the Governor know that we expect him to sign it,” says Claudia Magana, UCSA President.  

SB 185 does not mandate quotas nor does it allow individuals of different ethnic groups to be held to different standards and does not mandate quotas or repeal Prop 209. UC already has a “holistic” admissions policy, in which many factors are considered beyond GPA and SAT scores. All admits to UC have to meet a minimum GPA and SAT requirement, but beyond that the admissions officers make a holistic assessment of the student’s past performance and potential based on many factors. UCSA believes that race is a factor that should be considered when seeking to understand an applicant's background and experiences. 

The UC Student Association rejects the actions of UC Berkeley’s College Republican organization and believes that their proposed “Bake Sale” does not further a productive dialogue and only serves to harm the campus climate. “We welcome all students to participate in dialogue about the best ways for us to increase diversity and ensure that our University is accessible to all Californians. Still, we hope that such dialogue can occur without being purposefully offensive to specific groups on our campuses.” says, Joey Freeman, External Affairs Vice President at UC Berkeley.  

“We believe that the UC has a special responsibility as a public institution to be accessible to all Californians and reflect the diversity of the state. SB 185 is an important step in the right direction. In part because of the extensive institutional racism that persists in our state and nation, it is critical that our University is aware of the race of applicants, in order to fully understand and contextualize an individual’s background and experiences,” says Claudia Magana, UC Student Association President.