Affirmative action still alive

With the passing of Proposition 209 in 1996, affirmative action programs in California were supposed to disappeared.

The proposition passed by California voters in Novemer 1996 bars preferences based on gender or race. However that has not been the case with many Cal State Universities, including Cal State Long Beach, which use similar programs because of federal law.

"Primarily what it has affected is specialized programs," said Barbara Franklin, the CSULB director of equity and diversity. "But we still are mandated by federal law to have affirmative action plans."

The university's affirmative action plan includes "taking affirmative action measures to remedy discrimination if its shown to exist." However, "all employment decisions shall be based on a fair and equitable assessment of merit."

Ken Swisher, CSU director of media relations, said that Proposition 209 "was never an issue. We've never based enrollment, admissions or hiring practices on race or gender. It was more an issue at the UC system," he said.

The office did change its name from the Affirmative Action Office to the Equity and Diversity Office within the last two years, however.

"Affirmative action was too limiting on what this office actually did," Franklin said.

The two main functions of the office are employment and discrimination issues, she said.

"With faculty we're involved all the way through. So all job searches adhere to equal employment opportunity," she said.

The program is responsible for the equal opportunity statements in position announcements and providing information about harassment and discrimination in various campus materials and information found in the University Bookstore.

Any students can visit the office if they feel they're being harassed, she said.

"If they just want it to stop, then we can deal with it in an informal way," she said. "If they would like to see more action, then it can go though a formal process."

The formal process can range from counseling students, faculty members or employees to terminating university employment or enrollment, Franklin said.

Other schools in the CSU system have similar programs.

"The federal law supercedes the state law," said Rosamaria Gomec-Amaro, director of diversity and equity at Cal State Fullerton. "[Affirmative action] is required under federal law."

At Cal State Northridge, the affirmative action office "never ended," said Jeanette Mann, special assistant to the president for equity and diversity at Cal State Northridge.

"We only changed one thing," Mann said. "You now can have no race or sex involved" in choosing the position's best candidate, she said.

At Cal State Sacramento, the equal opportunity and affirmative action office "does not conflict with 209," said Peter Lau, director of equal opportunity and affirmative action for CSU Sacramento.

The program also has had "no pressure to change its name," he said.

At the UC Riverside, the effects of Proposition 209 were also almost non-existent.

"Proposition 209 didn't change much," said Gary Wilkins, director of affirmative action and Title IX officer for UC Riverside. "The biggest change was in the admissions office."