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1st appeared 23 October 1998 Another Call for the Resurrection of Affirmative Action UCSF students held a rally yesterday to show their support for affirmative action programs and to form an alliance with the other UC campuses that staged similar rallies and protests this week. Speaking at the lunchtime rally in Saunders Court were Dan Lowenstein, professor of neurology; Philip Lee, former Chancellor of UCSF; Michael Adams, Director of Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity & Diversity; and Howard Pinderhughes, assistant professor of Social & Behavioral Sciences.
"My experience as a teacher and physician here at UCSF has made very clear the impact of our diversity on my abilities to care for patients," Lowenstein said. "I learn something new from my students, especially those with different backgrounds from mine, every single day. So, I contend that we must protect and defend and advance our diversity because it has a direct bearing on the quality of health care we can provide to our patients." Although Lowenstein commented on his support for affirmative action policies, he encouraged students, faculty and staff to make up their own minds. "My main message to all of you is this: learn as much as you can about these issues yourselves before you jump to any conclusions in this debate." Lee recalled his experience of being chancellor during the implementation of affirmative action policies at UC. "I was told by a number of faculty and alumni that I would destroy UCSF," Lee said. "In those 30 years UCSF has become one of the greatest research institutions in the world." Lee credited the UCSF black caucus with "providing the energy" that led to the campus becoming "one of the leaders in affirmative action" during his tenure as chancellor and challenged the current campus population, particularly the students, to "create the kind of energy we need to move us back on track." Although he described UCSF as "committed to maintaining the diversity of its student body," Pinderhughes urged the students not to become complacent. "Health inequality has increased," said Pinderhughes. "The need for affirmative action has never been more paramount than it is today." Students circulated pamphlets at the rally highlighting recent data that suggest that, in the state of California, black and Latino communities are particularly underserved in terms of health care and that black and Latino physicians are much more likely to serve these communities than are other physicians. "It's a matter of public health," said Fred Cirillo, a second-year medical student who was one of the organizers of the rally. "We should have a public health workforce that reflects the diversity of our society." Source: Paula Murphy, Daybreak Editor |
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"The
catalyst for this occasion, as you know, comes from a
groundswell of protest among students and faculty of the
University of California, including many of us here, who
oppose the actions taken by the Regents and the State
Government to dismantle affirmative action,"
Lowenstein said to a crowd of over 100.