Berkeley Chancellor Says Lack of Diversity Devastating

Chancellor Robert Berdahl of University of California-Berkeley said that over the long term, ending affirmative action in admissions will have a devastating impact on the school's diversity.

Since affirmative action programs in graduate schools were banned starting this fall, the number of blacks and Hispanics in Berkeley's law school has dropped from 52 in last year's entering class to 8 this year.

While Berdahl does not expect undergraduate diversity to plummet as much, he predicts banning affirmative action will spread to other public universities, leading to a nationwide decrease in the number of non-white college students.

Media Resources: The Nando Net - September 10, 1997

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