February 10, 1989
PRESIDENT DAVID PIERPONT GARDNER
via DIRECTOR ARTURO GOMEZ-POMPA, UC MEXUS CHAIR, SCR 43 ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Re: The University of California and the Hispanic Community
On September 18, 1987, the California legislature, via Senate Concurrent Resolution 43, requested that the University of California undertake an assessment of the status of Hispanics in the State of California, and develop a long-term research agenda to address a wide range of issues of importance to California's future. Recognizing that the University itself is facing many challenges with respect to the Hispanic population, the Executive Committee of the SCR 43 Task Force established a committee, composed of Jaime E. Rodriguez, Chair (I), Joe L. Martinez, Jr. (B), David Lopez (LA), Faustina Solis (SD), and Kathryn Roberts (R), to assess the University of California and the Hispanic community. The Executive Committee agreed that the report of the Committee on the University should remain separate from the general SCR 43 report and that it should be addressed to the President. Because the report contains criticism, we would like to state at the outset that the members of the Committee on the University are universitarios, University people, who believe in its values of excellence in teaching, research, and service and have no desire to change these tenets of the University. The Committee agrees with and is dedicated to the current mission of the University of California. Criticisms and concerns raised in this report address historic and systemic problems, and recommendations are designed to assist the University to meet the demands of the present and future through the institution of newer, coordinated systems which incorporate experience and innovation.
The Committee on the University visited many campuses, both formally and informally. Members of the Committee spoke with several chancellors, deans, provosts, senate chairs, and other administrators, as well as with faculty, students, and staff. In addition, the Committee met with Senior Vice President Frazer and his staff and with interested community members. While large quantities of data on the status of Hispanics within the University were obtained and reviewed, this report is not encumbered with statistics. The situation is well documented, particularly in: "The Status of Hispanics at the University of California," (Memo to the President, dated May 2, 1984), "The University of California in the 21st Century," the "Smelser Report," the Latino Issues Forum's "Latino Report Card on the University of California," and the University of California Chicano/Latino Consortium's "A Report on the Status of Chicanos/Latinos at the University of California."
The statistics indicate that despite the University's considerable financial investment in increasing both the diversity of its community and the success of minorities in the academic setting, the structures the University has created towards this end are generally not effective. In fact the members of the Committee surmise that the structures and procedures themselves may have contributed to the lack of widespread emotional and philosophical commitment found at UC campuses today toward the enrollment and retention of Hispanic students, and the hiring and promotion of Hispanic faculty and staff. By their very existence, specialized offices and delegated authorities remove from the University community at large any sense of communal responsibility for affirmative action.
Thus this report examines attitudes and institutionalized impediments to UC's efforts in these areas. It is not by numbers alone that the University can assess its failures as a system. And bigger numbers (while essential) are not the only indicators of success in achieving the diverse University community to which we aspire.
The Committee on the University is agreed that the University of California must act quickly and decisively to prepare itself to cope with changing circumstances in this State. The Committee is convinced that significant change is not only desirable, but also possible. But it will require strong leadership from the President, the Chancellors, top administrators, and faculty of all ethnic origin. It will also necessitate new approaches. Old excuses for inaction and the shifting of blame from one group to another (as in, "the small size of the pool," or "faculty hire faculty," or "we don't hire our own) must be abandoned. The size of the national pool of faculty, for example, is meaningless if the University truly wishes to recruit Hispanics. Similarly, while it is true that faculty hire faculty, it is also true that academic administrators can take a much more active role in the process. The most prominent example of this is the sudden success of a thrust toward Pacific Rim studies. Because of Presidential interest and support, in the form of funds and other resources, campuses have been eagerly vying with one another to develop academic and research programs. Numerous faculty have been hired, research centers established, and a school approved with an apparently expedited review. The Pacific Rim initiative is a good example of what can be done for Hispanic issues. What is needed is to define Hispanic issues as in," not with rhetoric, but with action.
In the sections which follow, the Committee discusses the issues and recommends ways in which the University of California can transform itself into a greater institution, one that thrives on its cultural diversity and, at the same time, addresses the critical issues of the growing Hispanic population in the State.
While the recommendations contained in various sections of this report speak to specific problem areas, there are several over-reaching recommendations the Committee wishes to set forth here.
The SCR 43 Committee on the University calls for several major reviews of University structure and practice in this report. Action should not be taken without complete information and thoughtful analysis. However, review of these issues provides also an opportunity for postponement of action. It should be emphasized, therefore, that these issues are of critical importance to the University, and reviews should be set in motion immediately and completed within the next year.
While the Committee on the University was established to address Hispanic issues, the report of the Committee often refers to other minority groups and women. The Committee found that such groups have much in common in the University setting, and much to contribute to one another. Many recommendations can be applied broadly to achieve the diversity to which the University of California wisely aspires. Thus the Committee does not present a plan for Hispanics in the University of California, but rather "A Plan for Universitywide Diversity."
FOR THE COMMITTEE ON THE UNIVERSITY
Jaime E. Rodriguez
Professor of History, Irvine
David Lopez
Associate Professor of Sociology, Los Angeles
Joe L. Martinez Jr.
Professor of Psychology, Berkeley
Kathryn L Roberts
Principal Administrative Analyst,
UC MEXUS, Riverside
Faustina Solis
Professor of Community Medicine,San Diego