UCI's decision is unfair

For those who enrolled this year intending to transfer to the closest UC campus it feels like the rug was pulled from under our feet.

The University of California, Irvine backpedaled on a partnership this fall that promised transfer students guaranteed admission into their campus since 1999.

Incoming students who came on the pretense that they had a guaranteed spot at UCI are now standing in front of closed doors. Eradicating opportunities.

With the ban on affirmative action, schools no longer need to meet a diversity quota. The effects of the Supreme Court’s hostile decision have left underrepresented students fighting for a place at the table once again picking up the scraps. The timing of this decision couldn’t be any more perfect for them to eliminate this partnership.

Santa Ana College is majority Latino and has over 11,000 students who qualify for financial aid. We are a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution and were recently designated an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution.

UCI’s broken promise was intentional and abrupt, leaving hundreds scrambling for a second option on a tight deadline.

Irvine says that they are not canceling guaranteed admissions but instead, they are aligning with the state-wide Transfer Admission Guaranteed program. This created lots of panic among the students.

UCI is the nearest UC institution for first-generation students who aren’t able to move out due to their family responsibilities and the lack of financial opportunity in an expensive environment such as SoCal.

This promise has drawn many students to SAC in hopes of having a guaranteed future at the nationally ranked university.

We hope that UCI revokes their unsympathetic decision or find another way to make their school more accessible to people of color.