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Students walk near the Bruin Bear statue on the UCLA campus. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Students walk near the Bruin Bear statue on the UCLA campus. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

'Needle Has Not Moved' on Increasing Diversity on UC Campuses

'Needle Has Not Moved' on Increasing Diversity on UC Campuses

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More Latino students are attending the University of California -- but UC campuses still have work to do in recruiting and building African-American and Native American enrollment.

Those are the findings from a UC campus diversity report, presented to the UC Board of Regents on Wednesday in Sacramento.

Regent Eddie Island was among the many university officials frustrated with persistently low enrollment of African-American students. He says systemwide policies aimed at increasing the number of underrepresented students have not been carried out effectively by campus presidents.

"The needle has not moved," Island says. "I look to the chancellors to lead this area. And quite frankly, they’ve not."

UC chancellors say there are a number of challenges. The ban on affirmative action prevents them from factoring race into college admissions. They also have to compete with other prestigious universities for African-American scholars.

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Even so, some regents believe UC needs to get even more aggressive with recruiting.

"Campuses are out there scouting the best in sports in football, baseball and basketball. Can't we start early scouting the best possible academic talent?" UC Regent Bonnie Reiss wonders.

Another radical idea would be to overhaul the admissions process. UC President Janet Napolitano says it's time to look at all options.

"We have to assume this responsibility as part of our DNA, our essence. How do we figure this out?"

One bright spot from UC's campus diversity report: Latinos are now the fastest-growing student population in the system, though some say that's largely because of the state's changing demographics.

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