Supporters rally for affirmative action

Thursday's snowstorm forced the relocation of the Call To Action 2001 rally supporting affirmative action, but 150 people still turned out for the event. The rally was scheduled to take place on College Green, but organizers moved the event inside W.E.B. DuBois College House, away from the inclement weather. The event, now in its third year, was jointly sponsored by the Greenfield Intercultural Center, UMOJA, the United Minorities Council and the Asian Pacific Student Coalition. Speakers included University President Judith Rodin and addressed issues relating to affirmative action at Penn and elsewhere. Although some speakers criticized what they said was the University's apathetic attitude toward minority recruitment, most were supportive of Penn's affirmative action policies. Almost all noted that more could be done. Speaker Vinay Harpalani, a second-year doctoral candidate in the Graduate School of Education and a Graduate Associate in DuBois College House, said that the number of newly enrolled African-American students at Penn has stagnated - there were 178 in 1970 and 159 in 2000. Rodin combatted these statistics by noting that the number of Latinos enrolled at Penn has doubled each year for the past three years. Rodin also emphasized that she supports affirmative action, adding that such policies will continue at Penn. However, Rodin did remark that much responsibility lies with the students to "define [affirmative action] together [for] our future as a strong and just society." Many students, wearing black to show their support of affirmative action, were fulfilling Rodin's request by simply attending the rally. "I think that affirmative action is really important because there are a lot of injustices in the school system," College sophomore Rosanna Tran said. "I think that SAT scores and grades. [don't] necessarily reflect how well someone's going to do in college or life." Students who attended the rally in previous years said that while they did not learn anything particularly new, they were happy with the turnout. "I attended this rally last year as well," Engineering junior Eric Chen said. "I've always been in support of affirmative action - not only in colleges but also in the workplace - for increasing the numbers of women and minorities that are in positions of power." Organizers said they hoped the event would inspire participants to engage in social issues all year long, not just for an annual meeting, adding that people may leave Call To Action with more positive ideas about affirmative action. Erin Cross, assistant director of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center, accentuated in her speech that affirmative action does not ask for "special rights" for anyone. "No one deserves `special rights,'" she said, "but everyone deserves human rights."