UC Regents Turn the Tables on Ward Connerly
Regents oppose initiative to outlaw collection of racial data even as Connerly predicts victory at the ballot box
By Pamela Burdman

SAN FRANCISCO

The University of California Board of Regents went on the offensive recently against fellow regent Ward Connerly, formally opposing his campaign to outlaw the collection of racial data.

In a 15-3 vote, with one abstention, the UC regents last month endorsed President Richard C. Atkinson's resolution stating that the proposed law could "impede the University's ability to conduct basic and policy-related research, to carry out its admissions and outreach programs, and otherwise carry out the university's mission without restricting the freedom of scientific and scholarly inquiry" (see Black Issues, June 20, 2002).

It was only the 10th time in 25 years that the university had gone on record on a state ballot measure, a move propelled by the uniform sentiment of the 10 campus chancellors and the unanimous opposition of the systemwide faculty senate.

"This went through more review than anything I can recall in my 27 years as a faculty member," says Dr. Gayle Binion, a political science professor from UC-Santa Barbara who chairs the systemwide Academic Council. "The faculty spent a year discussing this matter. We looked at it in one way and one way only: How does this affect the university? We felt compelled to speak on it. It's a public policy that affects us very directly."

Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, an ex officio regent, agreed. "You can't take the count out of accountability," Bustamante says. "This initiative will hurt people and create tragedy in California."

In embracing a position 10 months before voters will face the initiative, the UC regents turned the tables on Connerly, campaign chairman of the proposal known by supporters as the "racial privacy initiative," by opponents as the "information ban," and by state officials as the Classification by Race, Ethnicity, Color, or National Origin (CRECNO) initiative.