Members of Students for Educational Opportunity, a Berkeley-based
group working against the clock to restore affirmative action in
education. By the end of March they had gathered 200,000 signatures to
place a new initiative on California’s November ballot. The initiative,
which is designed to counter Proposition 209, states that California
may “consider the economic background, race, sex, ethnicity, and
national origin of qualified individuals.”
Angela Guerrero, a Boalt Hall law school student, is co-chair of
the group and co-author of the Equal Educational Opportunities
Initiative (EEOI). She believes affirmative action is still needed.
“With the repeal of affirmative action, the problem of inequality
has worsened,” Guerrero said. “We believe that hard-working and
talented students are unfairly being denied access to public education.
“Since the [University of California] Regents instituted their own
affirmative action ban for professional school admissions two years
ago, there has been a staggering 60 to 70 percent drop-off in already
under-represented students,” she continued. “At the law school, we’ve
gone from being the most diverse to one of the least.”
Students for Educational Opportunity chose the initiative process
because they believe that the California courts and legislature have
been unsympathetic to the issue of educational access. The group is
depending on a network of volunteers across more than thirty campuses
to gather the 750,000 valid signatures needed.
“We’re the only one’s out here challenging the re-segregation of
our schools,” Guerrero explained. “We have no press consultants or paid
signature collectors. We’re doing this without much money, and it is an
uphill battle getting petitions returned.
“But what’s interesting about this campaign is that there are a lot
of folks coming forward who are not leaders of organizations,” she went
on. “They are individuals who are frustrated. We’re seeing a lot of
fresh faces … folks who have never organized or been involved in
politics. This issue is politicizing them and motivating them to lead.”
