As first-year law students at Boalt Hall at the University of California, we feel honored that cartoonist Gary Trudeau has set a week of “Doonesbury” at our school. We applaud his efforts to bring national attention to the lack of diversity here. Members of the Class of 2000 share his concern about this problem.
However, in the Oct. 21 strip, through his casual inclusion of the punchline, “We no longer admit black people,” Mr. Trudeau promotes a dangerous myth about Boalt. The removal of affirmative action has, of course, severely reduced the numbers of blacks and other minorities accepted. Nevertheless, the school did admit 14 black people this year; in addition to increasing this number, we must encourage such students to matriculate.
They can still be admitted; if they continue to apply, they will be. We are working with our classmates to attract minority applicants to Berkeley, both for transfer and for next year’s entering class. In addition, we want those who are accepted to attend. We can only hope that the success of our efforts has not been jeopardized by Mr. Trudeau’s wit.
