More U. students rally for race policy

With affirmative action policies in jeopardy, students at Penn are taking the opportunity to speak out. After the University signed the amicus curiae, or "friend of the court," brief to the U.S. Supreme Court this week in favor of the University of Michigan's undergraduate and law school's policy of using race as an admissions factor, student organizations across Penn's campus have begun to mobilize. On Wednesday, following another brief submitted to the Court by 13,922 law students across the country, including several from Penn, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly passed a resolution in support of the University of Michigan, endorsing the Civil Rights March to the Supreme Court on April 1, and commending and encouraging Penn's support of affirmative action. GAPSA Chair Emeritus Kyle Farley drafted the resolution, which will be used as a "voice to encourage the Penn community" and to "inspire other groups across the country," he said. "GAPSA represents Penn's 10,000 graduate students," all of whom, the history graduate student said, would be affected by the court case. The Black Student League is one of the many groups on campus that plan to attend the march that GAPSA is supporting. The BSL, UMOJA and other student groups are developing a campaign to increase awareness of both the case and the march. According to College junior Chevon Walker, a member of the Political Action and Research Committee in both UMOJA and the BSL, the campaign will include "teach-ins, debates and a day of solidarity on Thursday, Feb. 27," when supporters of affirmative action will be asked to show their support by wearing black. "This is among the most important political issues of our lives and will undoubtedly affect us all," Walker said. Indeed, should the Supreme Court rule against Michigan, many fear for the continuity of affirmative action policies here at Penn. While Penn does not use a point system akin to that in place at the University of Michigan, which awards 20 out of 150 points needed for admission qualification for minority status, Penn officials say that racial diversity is taken into consideration in the admissions process. "Diversity is considered part of those extraordinary features that you'd want at the University," BSL President and Wharton sophomore Yewande Fapohunda said of Penn's policy. According to Fapohunda, in light of the Michigan case, institutions fear being sued, so they are already scaling down -- in other words, universities are limiting the chances of having to deal with minority applications by looking at a more limited pool. "They are looking more at private prep schools," Fapohunda said, "not urban, public schools so much anymore." While she is pleased with Penn's recent support of affirmative action, Fapohunda added that the brief is only "superficially positive." "If the court strikes down U. Michigan, will the University still support affirmative action?" she asked. According to College sophomore Efren Olivares, president of Mex at Penn and director for the Latino Coalition admissions initiatives, Penn's admissions process is in need of improvement, despite being better than many of its peers. "Penn's pretty hands-off in affirmative action," Latino Coalition spokesman and College junior Nicolas Rodriquez added. "It's not fully committed" to minority recruitment. Fapohunda points to the numbers for Penn's Class of 2006 as an example -- 13.7 percent of the class has legacy status, she said, which is considered a bonus factor, like race. "There are only 144 blacks, or 5.9 percent, and 166 Latinos, or 6.8 percent," she said. "How much less is okay?" While Asian Pacific Student Coalition President Julia Lee stated in an e-mail that she was pleased with Penn "displaying a commitment to diversity," she, too, sees room for improvement. The Engineering senior praised Penn's recruitment of students from various backgrounds through programs such as Minority Scholars Weekend but said that Penn should improve its representation of Southeast Asians, increase commitment to allocating appropriate resources and funding to underprivileged communities and work for greater recruitment and retention of a more diverse faculty. Olivares said that minority recruitment in the Ivy League as a whole has room to grow. The number of "minority students that attend Ivy League schools is low enough as it is," Olivares said. "It is not because they lack merits -- without affirmative action, I am convinced these numbers would be lower." Indeed, at institutions without affirmative action policies, such as the University of Texas, minorities are severely underrepresented, according to Fapohunda. Ever since the University of Texas dropped its affirmative action policy, Fapohunda pointed out that "admission rates for minorities have plummeted," adding that if you take the Texas example and apply it to Penn, the number of minority students at Penn would drop to around 40 to 60 per class. It is "blind to say that race doesn't exist -- it is part of American culture," she added. It is not that "unqualified people are getting in, but that qualified people aren't."

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