SACRAMENTO, CA - Prior to Proposition 209, the University of California used race preferences to admit less academically qualified black and Hispanic students over more qualified Asians. Now, evidently uneasy that Asians make up nearly 40 percent of its undergraduates despite being only 11 percent of the state population, UC is again skirting 209 against high-achieving Asians.

The new system, called comprehensive review, de-emphasizes applicants’ SAT scores and high-school grades by adding new admissions factors, including participating in UC outreach programs, coming from a low-income family, first generation to attend college, attending a low-performing high school, and personal hardships. By these criteria, a student can rack up enough points to almost guarantee admission.

Although superficially race neutral, the new system is designed specifically to increase the number of blacks and Hispanics and reduce the number of Asians and whites admitted into UCLA and UC Berkeley, the UC system’s flagship schools. Under UC’s previous rules, grades and test scores were the determining factors for most admissions. Under those criteria, Asians and whites did well, but blacks and Hispanics did poorly, hence, the move to “comprehensive review.”

Under the new criteria, last year UCLA admitted fewer Asians and whites, but 19 percent more blacks and nine percent more Hispanics. Total system-wide black and Hispanic admissions are up significantly, exactly what UC wanted. The Wall Street Journal quotes former UCLA admissions director Rae Lee Siporin who says that the new system was crafted to make the student body reflective of the state’s population. Further, Siporin baldly says that simply using poverty as the key criterion wouldn’t work because it would “pull in” too many low-income Asians.

Also, according to the Journal, admissions to UCLA from heavily Hispanic schools, like South Gate High near Los Angeles, are way up while admissions from heavily Asian/white schools, like University High in Irvine, are down. One South Gate High Hispanic female student was accepted by UCLA with a 940 SAT score, 380 points below the average score for students admitted. An Asian student at University High with a 1410 SAT score was rejected by UCLA and says that she hurt her chances by not dwelling on her family’s hardships because “I didn’t want too much of a pity party.” This Asian student’s comment points to a culturally discriminatory aspect of UC’s new admissions system.

Many Asian cultures value stoicism in the face of difficulties. The Japanese, for example, speak of “gaman,” which roughly means to suck it up when things are tough. Whining is disfavored. Hard work and quiet determination are preferred. Liberals claim, with little evidence, that standardized tests are biased against blacks and Hispanics, yet cheer when UC adopts an admissions system that is culturally biased against Asians.

Even when high-achieving Asian applicants describe their hardships, many are rejected while lower-achieving black and Hispanic applicants with similar or lesser hardships are admitted. David Benjamin, who owns an SAT-preparation business, says ruefully, “It is simply shameful that it is worth less to be poor and Asian than to be poor and Hispanic.”

The gross subjectivity of the new UC policy, the open comments by UC officials and lawmakers, the telling statistics, and the cultural bias of the process combine to equal discrimination. Granting preferences on the basis of race is illegal in California. Lawsuit, anyone?

Lance Izumi is a Senior Fellow in California Studies at the California-based Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy. He can be reached via email at lizumi@pacificresearch.org.