News Release: UC Multiracial Box

From: Alfredo Padilla
To: alfredo@mavinfoundation.org
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 5:02 PM
Subject: [SWIRLinc] NEWS RELEASE: UC MULTIRACIAL BOX

NEWS RELEASE

29 September 2004

Contact: Matt Kelley, MAVIN Founder/President, 206.622.7101, matt@mavinfoundation.org

Anthony Yuen, HIF Executive Director, 415.409.4272, ayuen@hapaissuesforum.org

Nancy Brown, AMEA President, 323.298.3253, NGBrown173@aol.com

MIXED RACE ADVOCACY GROUPS SUBMIT LETTER TO UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA REGENTS > OPPOSING PROPOSED MULTIRACIAL CATEGORY ON UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA FORMS

(Seattle, WA) Three leading multiracial advocacy groups submitted a letter to the University of California regents today urging them to reject a proposed Multiracial box on UC admissions forms.

I am writing to you on behalf of the Association of MultiEthnic Americans (AMEA), Hapa Issues Forum (HIF) and MAVIN Foundation to express our concern regarding your proposal to add a multiracial/multiethnic category to University of California undergraduate admissions applications. AMEA, HIF and MAVIN Foundation are leading mixed race advocacy organizations that work closely with multiracial students to promote awareness of mixed race  issues.

Your proposal would significantly reduce the accuracy of data collection on UC applicants and undermine Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reporting guidelines which allow individuals to mark one or more racial boxes. Mixed race people by definition represent a diverse cross section of cultural and ethnic heritages, with many multiracial individuals identifying with multiple communities. Limiting their choice to a generic multiracial/multiethnic category ignores this diversity and severely limits the ability of UC to
gain a clear and detailed picture of its student population.

AMEA, HIF and MAVIN Foundation support a mark one or more format that will allow multiracial students to fully embrace all aspects of their diverse backgrounds and provide UC with a much more accurate portrait of student diversity. We strongly urge you to reconsider your proposal for a  multiracial/multiethnic category and to support data collection, tabulation and reporting methods that are compliant with mark one or more federal  guidelines.

Sincerely,

Nancy G. Brown MN, CNS
President
AMEA

Anthony Yuen
Executive Director
HIF

Matt Kelley
Founder/President
MAVIN Foundation

AMEA is a nonprofit, international alliance of nine multiethnic/interracial community organizations in the U.S. and Canada. AMEA’s mission is to educate and advocate on behalf of multiethnic individuals and families by collaborating with others to eradicate all forms of discrimination. Established in 1988, AMEA is the first national multiracial federation in North America. In 1995, AMEA became the only federally recognized multiracial advocacy group appointed to the Decennial Census Advisory Committee by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. AMEA was instrumental in the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) decision to revise its standards for collecting racial and ethnic data (Directive 15) by allowing persons of multiple racial heritages to check “one or more races” on the 2000 Census Race Question.

Hapa Issues Forum (HIF) is a San Francisco based nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of Asian Pacific Islanders of mixed heritage through advocacy, education, and research. “Hapa” is a Hawaiian word that literally means “half” and is commonly used to describe an Asian Pacific Islander of mixed heritage.

MAVIN Foundation is a 500-(c)3 nonprofit organization that celebrates innovative projects that celebrate and advocate for mixed race people and families.  In cities like Seattle, Sacramento, and San Antonio nearly one in six babies born is multiracial.  MAVIN’s innovative projects provide a unique forum to increase awareness of the changing face of our multiracial society. For more information, please visit www.mavinfoundation.org.

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