Affirmative action ballot measure fails, but these students are still fighting to diversify their universities (calmatters.org)

Californians voted this week by a 56.1% to 43.9% margin to continue the state’s ban on considering race, ethnicity and gender in public college admissions, hiring and contracting. But universities are pushing forward with other efforts to recruit and retain a diverse student body.

Black and Latino students are underrepresented at the University of California compared to those groups’ share of the state’s population. Statewide, many students of color enter college but don’t graduate. Among Californians who identify as Black, Latino, Native American and Pacific Islander, about half of those who attended college left without a degree, according to a 2019 report by the Campaign for College Opportunity. That’s compared with only 20% of Asian students and 32% of white students.

Berkeley junior Nona Claypool works at the Indigenous Native Coalition at UC Berkeley, one of seven on-campus recruitment and retention centers for underrepresented groups, doing outreach to Native American community college students.  A member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Claypool grew up in Wyoming near the Wind River Reservation.

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To read more of Kayleen Carter's article,please click here.