[Educationforall] Student Organizations Denounce SDSU Senate’s Failure to Adopt Resolution on Local Student Admissions

[Marcos Perez]

Media Alert

December 2, 2009

Student Organizations Denounce SDSU Senate’s Failure to Adopt Resolution on Local Student Admissions

(San Diego) The SDSU chapters of the Movimiento Estudantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA) and the Association of Chicana Activists(AChA) denounce the failure of the San Diego State University Senate to adopt a resolution on local student admits one day after the closure of the California Sate University System freshman application deadline. The resolution was developed by the Academic Senate’s Diversity, Equity, and Outreach Committee under the leadership of Dr. Anne Donadey in response to the elimination of the local student admit guarantee policy by the SDSU administration. The resolution called for at least 50% of the freshman class of 2010 be comprised of students from the SDSU service area. Its adoption was rejected at the monthly meeting of the Senate on December 1.

According to Jose Madera, chair of MEChA, “although our organization continues to call for the restoration of the local student admit guarantee policy as the only just solution, we saw the resolution as representing a good faith effort by progressive faculty and staff to support access to SDSU for local students. The introduction of the resolution also offered the SDSU administration an opportunity to support its claim that SDSU “values” local students. Instead it failed to rise to the occasion. Once again SDSU showed its true colors---disdain and contempt for local students. The fact remains that San Diego State remains the only campus in the entire California State University(CSU) system that has chosen to not honor the local student admit guarantee policy even though it has benefited students and their families.”

Nadia Cruz, chair of AChA, declared, “we applaud the faculty and staff who developed the resolution. But the failure of the Senate to adopt the resolution shows the continued discouragement of local students by SDSU and how institutional racism and classicism among the leadership of the campus are alive and well. Thousands of local students continue to face the denial of access to the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree at SDSU. How can the community have trust in SDSU when its leadership rejects a safe resolution that could have benefited the interests of local students and the campus? The only group that benefits from the failure to adopt the resolution is the SDSU administration with its arrogant determination to keep all power and control over the admissions process no matter what the cost to local students and their families.”

MECHA and AChA are the primary organizations for Latino students on the campus. Annually, each sponsor conferences for local high school students with the intent of motivating students to attend college, acquire information necessary to be eligible for admission, and to undergo an experience of being on a college campus. Since their creation thousands of students have attended the conferences and been inspired to pursue a college degree. 



On November23 the organizations conducted a candle light
vigil in support of the local student admit guarantee policy. Under that policy students who met the eligibility requirements of the California were guaranteed admission to their local campus. The policy was established by the CSU in recognition of the fact that many students across California are place bound. In October the SDSU administration announced the elimination the policy. the elimination of the policy has been met with broad community opposition in the San Diego and Imperial Valley areas. MEChA and AChA will continue to work for the restoration of the local student admit guarantee policy.

Contacts: Jose Madera:
Nadia Cruz: 
 		 	   		  
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