A California state audit conducted on Sept. 22 has found that five University of California campuses have unfairly admitted at least 64 applicants in the last six years. The cover letter of the audit claims “qualified students face an inconsistent and unfair admissions system that has been improperly influenced by relationships and monetary donations.” This behavior is deplorable and edges out more qualified and less privileged students as a result of the UC system’s bias and greed.
The audit states that 22 of these students were admitted through UC’s student-athlete admissions process, though none of them had the athletic prowess to compete at the university level. This makes the situation fundamentally worse, as it means the UC system was not only willing to admit students under false pretenses but to lie for the purpose of a cover-up.
The other 42 students were admitted to UC Berkeley. The audit reports that they were largely referred to the admissions department due to “their families’ histories as donors or because they were related or connected to university staff.” These referrals were made despite each student’s records falling short of the competitive standard for the university.
California state auditor Elaine Howel pointed the blame at UC president Janet Napolitano, closing the audit by confirming that, “The Office of the President has allowed the weaknesses in these practices to persist because it has not conducted adequate oversight of campuses’ admissions processes.” Napolitano resigned from her position on Aug. 1, 2019, but was still active in her role as president during the entire six years on which the audit was based (2013-2019).
Her resignation was long overdue, as her spotty record as UC president caused harm to students and faculty members alike over the entirety of her tenure.
In 2017, a different state audit released details of her office’s editing and managing statements made in a previous audit. It was revealed, “her office was sitting on $175 million of undisclosed reserves.” Two of her aides resigned after it was found they had tampered with surveys relating to the audit.
Napolitano’s wrongdoing, in this case, was found so severe that the Senate passed a bill making it illegal to interfere with an audit from a state agency. She maintained an air of ignorance throughout the process. It is also important to note that Napolitano had no prior background in academia or with the UC system before her election in the summer of 2013. Having no prior academic experience, one must wonder what prompted Napolitano’s election in the first place. Clearly, she was an unfit and unjust leader.
This scandal is only the most recent of its kind. UCLA was included in the nationally famous “college admissions scandal” of 2019 that resulted in the prosecution of several celebrities including Lori Loughlin.
There will be no reform until a UC president is elected that values a student’s ambition over their socio-economic status and familial connections. I believe I can speak on behalf of all eager college students when I say that acceptance should be based strictly on qualification, motivation and aspiration of applicants. To solve this issue, a larger agency must be created to monitor the admissions of all colleges at a federal level. Napolitano’s incompetence is just one example of bias out of thousands occurring at schools all across America on a daily basis.
