Proposition 16

In a conversation hosted by the Public Policy Institute of California, UC President Michael Drake spoke Friday about the priorities and challenges that the University of California will aim to address in the upcoming future.

While the UC Berkeley department of undergraduate admissions has previously been inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement in its outreach and yield efforts, a constitutional amendment prevents changes to be made to the admissions process.

On its second day of virtual meetings this week, the UC Board of Regents approved a report on student basic needs as well as the 2021-22 budget plan.

During a press conference Tuesday, UC President Michael Drake discussed tuition for the upcoming school year, diversity within the UC system after the failure of Proposition 16 and working with the incoming Biden administration.

A poll released Tuesday by UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies, or IGS, indicates that the past 30 years have seen a dramatic change in California’s racial and ethnic composition and a relative decline in the state’s Republican Party registration rate.

Proposition 16, which would have allowed the consideration of race and sex in public university admissions and state employment, failed in this year’s election, drawing criticism from student activists and community members of the UC system.

In the midst of the 2020 elections, various UC Berkeley faculty members and administrators participated in a virtual panel to discuss election outcomes Wednesday as part of the Campus Conversations series.

Out of the 12 propositions on the ballot, three have been approved by voters and five have failed while the rest remain uncertain, as of press time.

At its peak, about 60 people gathered at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park on Saturday for a rally supporting Proposition 16, the Black Lives Matter movement and #EndSARS in Nigeria.

As a public institution serving youth, UC Berkeley and the entire UC system must capitalize on this political fervor and give students the time to vote.