NAACP CALLS ON SDSU TO REVERSE POLICY CURTAILING LOCAL STUDENT ADMISSIONS; SAN DIEGO NAACP PLANS PROTESTS OCT. 13 & 14

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San Diego (October 11, 2009)—The San Diego branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is reacting strongly against San Diego State University’s (SDSU) recent decision to eliminate the guaranteed admissions policy for local students who meet CSU eligibility criteria. The University’s new admissions policy will cap local enrollment in the incoming freshman class at 37%; it will also further restrict access to local community college graduates whose admission has already been severely impacted by repeated policy changes over the past decade, the NAACP says.

 

Noting that the minority population of San Diego County is over 50%, SD Branch NAACP President Lei-Chala Wilson stated, “For decades, SDSU has been the pathway to higher education for students unable to leave the local area for economic or other reasons. It is not prudent to use the current financial crisis as an excuse to deny access to thousands of current CSU-eligible local students. SDSU needs to encourage rather than discourage our youth; it must reverse its decision to set a quota on local student admission.”

 

Working in collaboration with a broad-based coalition of community organizations and individuals, the SD NAACP urges all concerned citizens to participate in two upcoming efforts to persuade San Diego State University (SDSU) to restore the Local Student Guaranteed Admissions Policy immediately.

 

The first event is a 4:00 pm rally, Tuesday, October 13, 2009, at the San Diego Unified School District Board Office (4100 Normal Street, San Diego, CA 92103) to support the passage of an SDUSD Board Resolution calling upon SDSU to Restore the Local Student Guaranteed Admission Policy. Authored by Board member, John Lee Evans, the SDUSD Resolution calls upon SDSU “to immediately rescind the change for admissions for 2009-2010” and “to look at other alternatives besides eliminating the local service area preference.” Rally participants are encouraged to remain for the Board meeting that follows at 5:00 pm where the Board will vote on the resolution.

 

The second event is a 6:00 pm community forum, Wednesday, October 14, 2009, at Lincoln High School (4777 Imperial Avenue, SD, CA 92113), Room 554. Parents, students, community members, educators and representatives from affiliated organizations will provide valuable information regarding how SDSU’s efforts to decrease enrollment of CSU-eligible students from the San Diego area adversely impacts both local families and the local community.

 

Organizations working closely with the San Diego Branch NAACP to halt SDSU’s effort to limit admission of CSU-eligible local students include the Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association, National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW), Latino Concilio of Higher Education of San Diego County, Association of Raza Educators, Political and Educational Advocacy Consultants, Equality Alliance, the Education Consortium of San Diego County, We Advocate Gender Equity, and others.

 

For information about these and other upcoming events on this issue, please contact SD NAACP Community Coordinator, Pat Washington, PhD (619) 582-5383, Email: PatWashingtonPhD@aol.com
 


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