| By the end of June, the US Supreme Court will have
decided the fate of affirmative action programs in the
nation’s universities by ruling in two cases that
involve admissions policies at the University of Michigan’s
undergraduate program and its law school. Whatever the
outcome, the court’s decision will not affect
admissions policies at the University of California
and the Haas School. Our school is subject to Proposition
209, a state law passed by voters in 1996 that ended
all preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex,
color, ethnicity, or national origin.
Both the impending court ruling and Prop. 209 were
featured in recent Business Week stories on diversity
at the nation’s business schools, with a focus
on Haas. Whether or not you saw the articles, I want
to give you the facts on the issues as they affect our
school.
First, diversity is an important value at the Haas School,
and one that I fully support. I pledge to do everything
I can do within UC policy and California state law to
ensure that Haas achieves a diverse and excellent student
body, faculty, and staff. It is beneficial for our students
to learn in a campus community that exposes them to
all the elements of diversity that they will find in
the working world. We are stronger because of a variety
of talents and abilities, of work experiences, of educational
and personal backgrounds. And we are enriched by men
and women, people of every race and ethnic background,
religious affiliation, national origin, age, sexual
orientation, physical abilities, life experiences, business
backgrounds, educations… every way in which each
of us is unique.
This issue has been in the spotlight recently because
the school has had to change its association with the
Consortium for Graduate Study in Management (CGSM),
a national group that offers networking and scholarships
to underrepresented minorities who apply to MBA programs.
The change was necessary because of an opinion issued
by the UC Office of Legal Counsel, which found the school’s
affiliation with CSGM was not in compliance with state
law. The Consortium acted to exclude Haas from continued
membership before we had an opportunity to explore ways
to restructure the relationship. I remain hopeful that
something can be worked out.
I have submitted a proposal to CSGM seeking “associate
status” and suggesting ways for Haas to work with
the group while still complying with California law.
For example, the Consortium provides scholarships to
minority MBA students from its own funds, and from funds
provided by business schools that are members of the
group. By law, Haas is not permitted to provide its
own funds to these scholarships because they are based
on race. However, if the sources of funds for Consortium
scholarships at Haas came from outside the university,
there is no legal impediment to those scholarships being
administered at Haas. The key is that the source of
the funds be from an entity outside the university.
I have also suggested that alumni or students could
serve on the Consortium Board where an official representative
of the Haas School formerly had been serving, so long
as the representative was not a formal designee of the
school.
In addition, I have also launched a major expansion
of the Haas School’s scholarships awarded to students
who have overcome substantial barriers to achieve the
record of accomplishment that entitles them to admission
to the Haas School.
Finally, I have just formed three new groups at the
school that will help us work through the issues of
achieving and welcoming diversity at Haas. The groups
include a permanent committee to review and make recommendations
on all aspects of race as they affect students, including
policies on admissions and scholarships, curriculum,
mentoring, and alumni relationships. Panel members will
include students, faculty, staff and alumni.
The other groups include a faculty task force to deal
with barriers to the hiring and advancement of faculty
on the basis of race and gender, and a staff committee
to review issues of race and national origin that affect
Haas staff members. (A staff committee regarding gender
had already been constituted and has issued its recommendations.)
I would like to hear your thoughts on all aspects of
this issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly
and I will benefit from your advice.
With kind regards,
Tom Campbell
BankAmerica Dean
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