ACLU SUES TO GAIN PUPILS UC ADMISSION.Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer A civil rights group filed a lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of California's top public high school students, including those at two Valley campuses, after their schools failed to sign up for a program that guarantees them admission to the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). . The American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, filed the lawsuit against the UC system in Superior Court, seeking admission for students into the Enrollment in the Local Context program, which guarantees a seat to high school graduates who rank in the top 4 percent of their class. The program, which takes effect this year, was created to help UC admit a diverse student body after passage in 1996 of Proposition 209, which prohibited state agencies from making race-based admission decisions. ``We are asking the regents to permit these kids to be able to take advantage of the policy, that every student who would otherwise qualify be permitted to claim their entitlement to the admissions as long as the failure to meet the requirement was not their fault,'' said Mark Rosenbaum, ACLU ACLU: see American Civil Liberties Union. legal director. ACLU contends that officials at 21 Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County high schools, including Chatsworth and Monroe high schools in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , failed to sign up for the program by not completing the necessary paperwork. Statewide, 134 of 852 schools failed to send in the paperwork, Rosenbaum said. |
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