Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has adopted resolutions and position papers expressing its commitment to equity and diversity of the faculty, staff, and students of our community colleges and to programs and policies enacted to serve them;
Whereas, Federal, state, and systemwide objectives call for community colleges and districts to measure the access and success of student populations; to consider how programs, policies, or practices ensure the fair participation of historically underrepresented groups or targeted populations while rectifying a historical wrong or avoiding adverse impacts; to examine the progress made toward achieving objectives of fair and effective hiring practices; and to report those disaggregated findings to specified agencies or bodies; and
Whereas, The Racial Privacy Initiative (also known as the Ward Connerly Initiative), appearing on the March 2003 ballot, would prohibit any local or state government establishments from gathering and reporting data based on race, ethnicity, color, or national origin, thereby crippling our equity and diversity efforts and our efforts to protect all groups or populations that may be subject to unfair or discriminatory practices, and would inhibit our ability to gather research essential for evaluating institutional effectiveness, program review, and other district or institutional plans;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate urge local academic senates to provide education about the implications of the Racial Privacy Initiative; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate oppose the Racial Privacy Initiative as contrary to our efforts to promote equity and diversity, and access and success throughout our California Community College System. MSCDisposition:Board of Governors, Chancellor's Office, Local Senates