Foe of Affirmative Action Seeks to Bar Colleges in California From Collecting Data on Race By JEFFREY SELINGO
Ward Connerly, the University of California regent who successfully promoted ballot referendums in California and Washington State to end affirmative action in university admissions and hiring, is getting ready for another campaign. This time, his proposed ballot measure in California would prevent the state, including public colleges, from collecting information on a person's race, ethnicity, or national origin.
The language of the proposed constitutional amendment is awaiting approval from California's attorney general and secretary of state. If it is approved, supporters must collect about 700,000 signatures from registered voters by the end of August for the proposal to be put on the March 2002 ballot.
Although reporting one's race is optional on almost all college forms, Mr. Connerly said he wants to get universities "out of the mode of classifying people by race."
"It's none of their business if someone classifies themselves as this or that," said Mr. Connerly, who has named the referendum the "Racial Privacy Initiative."
"I find it hard to understand why they need this information," he added. "They can't make any decisions based on it, so there's no reason an applicant should think they have to provide it."
But university officials in California said on Tuesday that the race question is among several, like age and income, that provide a snapshot of students on campuses. In addition, they said information on race helps them gauge the success of programs aimed at increasing diversity.
"We're very proud of the diversity of our campuses, and if we can't collect that information it hinders our ability to monitor diversity," said Colleen Bentley-Adler, a spokeswoman for the California State University System.
Prospective students also look at the racial makeup of the campus when deciding where to apply and enroll, Ms. Bentley-Adler said. "They want to go to places where students look like them. If we can't provide that information, we're not going to attract a diverse student body."
But supporters of the measure say the race question is inadequate, because it is not applicable to students of mixed races.
"The line separating races has blurred significantly," said Kevin Nguyen, executive director of the American Civil Rights Coalition, a group that Mr. Connerly organized. "We think this initiative reflects the increasing diversity and rate of interracial marriages and births in California."