<p>I read the WSJ piece shortly after reading the following article "Record number of freshmen are admitted to UC system" and was struck by just how suspicious people are of the changes in UC admissions:</p>
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A record number of incoming freshmen were admitted to the University of California this year, including the largest group of African-Americans accepted systemwide in more than a decade.</p>
<p>The number of black and Latino students admitted rose by 10 percent, while white and Asian-American student figures rose by 2 to 3 percent across the nine undergraduate-campus system.</p>
<p>At the University of California San Diego, the change in admit numbers was more pronounced. That's because the campus admitted 10 percent fewer freshmen than last year, when an unexpectedly large number of students decided to attend UCSD.</p>
<p>The number of white students admitted to UCSD dropped by 14 percent this year, while figures for Asian-Americans dropped 8 percent and Latino admit numbers fell 5 percent. Black student admit numbers did not change. </p>
<p>The figures represent a significant shift for the 209,000-student system. Since the late 1990s, white and Asian-American freshmen admit numbers have grown dramatically, while African-American student figures have crept up more slowly.</p>
<p>UC officials said this year's change reflects an increase in the numbers of African-American and Latino students applying to UC, and the high qualifications of those students.</p>
<p>The numbers were most notable at UCLA, which implemented a new admissions process this year, after considerable community outcry over its low black freshman enrollment figures. The number of UCLA black freshmen admitted rose by 143 students this year, or 57 percent.</p>
<p>"This is our first year using the holistic approach," said Susan Wilbur, UC's undergraduate admissions director, ?and we're very pleased with what we've seen."</p>
<p>UC's diversity figures have been closely watched since 1996, when California became the first of several states to ban race-based admissions in public colleges.</p>
<p>Some were suspicious of the changes, including Ward Connerly, a former UC regent who led the campaign to dismantle affirmative action in college admissions.</p>
<p>"I'm convinced that the university is, if not breaking the law, then somehow orchestrating proxies to enable them to increase the number of black students," Connerly said.</p>
<p>UCSD officials discounted that, noting that application readers are given clear instructions to ignore race in the admission decision.</p>
<p>"The university continues to adhere to the law of the land," said Mae Brown, UCSD's director of undergraduate admissions.</p>
<p>Brown said the differences in admissions rates are not significant.</p>
<p>UCSD admitted about 42 percent of its 45,000 freshman applicants. Admitted freshmen had a mean grade-point average of 4.06, and an SAT score of 1,941 out of a maximum of 2,400.
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