But UC Berkeley, like many institutions that see diversity as a kind of nirvana, will continue to tweak its policies in an effort to get the maximum number of minorities. Schools are not alone in pushing into the affirmative-action frontier. It outlawed discrimination on the basis of race and gender in admissions, hiring, and contracting, ending affirmative-action programs in most of the government sector. San Jose reacted with a sort of legal jujitsu. City officials reasoned that if Prop. 209 outlawed discrimination, they could require contractors to prove they weren't discriminating.
Conservative critics call the program ridiculous - and illegal.
They've filed a lawsuit to block it. Both sides see the case as a test that will outline the future of affirmative-action programs for the state, if not the nation. The Monitor does not endorse the sites behind these links. We offer them for your additional research.