UC regents sorry for acts of hate on campuses

sfgate.com
Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, March 25, 2010


It's taken a series of venomous events - among them a hanging noose, a swastika etched in a Jewish student's door, and anti-gay slurs scribbled on walls - to shake University of California leaders into recognizing that the diversity problem on their campuses is serious.
But recognize it they did on Wednesday as regents, chancellors and UC President Mark Yudof spent the morning apologizing to students for allowing an atmosphere of hatred to fester on at least two campuses, San Diego and Davis. They acknowledged that racial tension undoubtedly exists on other UC campuses.
They laid out plans to make the largely white and Asian American schools more inclusive. And they decried the repeated, hateful incidents that began in February with a San Diego frat party mocking black students. A noose in the school's library followed. Then there was a student's closed-circuit TV rant using a racial slur for black people, and another student's photo that had been darkened and circulated.
At UC Davis, someone defaced the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center with derogatory words. And no fewer than six swastikas have been found on campus, the latest just days ago.
"I want to extend a personal apology to every African American kid, every Latino student and Jewish kid, and to every student that became aware of this," Eddie Island told fellow regents and dozens in the audience, from students to staff members. The regents are in San Francisco this week conducting their monthly meeting.
"We as a board failed to provide a nurturing environment," Island said. "We didn't intend to, but we have failed."

Full Story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/24/BAH81CK9BM.DTL

UC Davis settles lawsuit over women's sports

The Sacramento Bee
hsangree@sacbee.com
Published Thursday, Jun. 18, 2009

Three students who filed a class-action lawsuit against the University of California, Davis, claiming the university provided insufficient opportunities for female athletes, have agreed to settle their case, UC Davis officials announced Wednesday.
The settlement, which is still subject to a judge's approval, will provide more opportunities for women at UC Davis to play intercollegiate sports, including the creation of a varsity field-hockey team for women this year.
"I know so many excited women who are going to be able to participate, so I'm really happy for them," said plaintiff Kelsey Brust, a 21-year-old student majoring in animal science who has played field hockey at the club level.
"I'm really proud of UC Davis," said Brust, who won't be able to play on the varsity team this fall because of other commitments.
Noreen Farrell, a San Francisco lawyer with Equal Rights Advocates and lead attorney on the case, said she, too, was pleased with the settlement.
The case, filed in 2007, claimed the university provided women, who make up a majority of students at UC Davis, with disproportionately few opportunities to play varsity sports.
Another lawsuit filed against the university in 2003 on behalf of four female wrestlers was dismissed by a federal judge in Sacramento in April 2008. U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. found the plaintiffs had failed to give the university sufficient notice of their broad legal claim.

Full Story: http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/1956516.html