Editorials

Daily Planet Correspondent 

In the words of Jimmy Cliff, “You can get it if you really want, but you must try, try and try, try and try – you succeed at last.” 

UC Regent Bill Bagley echoed a similar sentiment in his struggle to repeal the 1995 measures passed by the Board of Regents eliminating affirmative action in UC system admissions. Addressing students for the first time about his proposal to revoke the UC’s affirmative action ban, Bagley spoke and answered questions for over an hour Wednesday afternoon at Boalt Hall’s Booth Auditorium. 

The Boalt alum, former state legislator and San Francisco lawyer expressed confidence that “within the short term” of a year or two, the Board of Regents would reverse its 1995 decision. 

“Oh, the Board of Regents, they all work hard and care about the university, but every 20 or 25 years they do something to screw up the university,” said Bagley, a regent since 1988. “Think back, my friends. In 1950, they passed the loyalty oath. A massive number of professors were fired or quit and the university got a bad reputation, worldwide. Twenty-five years later, Ronald Reagan used the university as a foil. There were some inordinate activities on campus in the Sixties, you know about that. Clark Kerr was president of the university at the time, so what did the regents do? Fire Clark Kerr. Then, 25 years later, 16 months before the 1996 presidential election in July of 1995, this Board of Regents again put a black mark on the university, passing the resolutions we all know about, 14-10.” 

The regents’ actions of 1995 were bolstered by the subsequent passage of Proposition 209, meaning that even if Bagley were successful and the Board of Regents’ measures SP-1 and SP-2 were repealed, affirmative action would still not be a criteria for admission to the UC system. Bagley emphasized that revoking the regents’ measures would be “an important gesture, a dramatic gesture.” 

“What we did in 1995 introduced the UC into the genesis, into the origin of a raw political issue,” said Bagley. “Regardless of whether you or I or anyone in the room or the university wants or doesn’t want to return to affirmative action, the (Board of Regents) should not be the leader in bringing forth any raw political issue into society. This is one of my major, major, points. If these guys want to change society, let ’em run for office.” 

While Bagley said that expanded outreach efforts are showing some promise, he claimed the black eye the regents inflicted upon the UC system continues to drive away many of the most qualified minority applicants, especially at the graduate school level. 

“The worst example, or best, if you will, is the UCLA Law School Class of ’99. Eighteen African-Americans were admitted, two now attend,” said Bagley. “Why is that? Two reasons. One is ... (a feeling of) unwelcomeness. The other is the massive recruitment effort of the Stanfords and the Harvards and the Yales. These are quality people, the tops of their classes. It’s not affirmative action, they simply feel rejected by the UC.” 

Bagley feels that by moving in “small and important circles,” he may be able to garner enough votes to overturn measures SP-1 and SP-2 within a year or two, an action he feels would “put a new face on the university.” In the meantime, Bagley is highly critical of fellow regent Ward Connerly’s grandstanding actions in an attempt to quell affirmative action across the nation. 

“When I think of my colleague running around the country and, frankly, getting his jollies by speaking to these groups and becoming a public figure on the issue of anti-affirmative action, I think ... what (repealing SP-1 and SP-2) would do to our national reputation is clear. (Connerly) is simply exacerbating what we did in 1995, continually portraying that reputation we now have.”