By Patricia Ann Washington
As of May 7, 4,000+ students from the San Diego area have been denied admission for Fall 2010 by SDSU. Seeking to assist the students a broad and diverse array of faith, educational and civil rights organizations are calling on SDSU President Stephen Weber to address the lack of information on appeals for students denied admission and other deficiencies and problems in the admissions process.
The desired changes include the providing of the specific reason for denial of admission, directions on how to file an appeal, and review of the supplemental application used for transfer student applications. The coalition has been informed by students and counselors that in the case of use of the supplemental application students who had fulfilled all of requirements have been denied admission because they have simply failed to check a box on the application form or glitches in the internal SDSU system.
The 4000+ students include 1740 frosh applicants who would have been admitted under the local student admission guarantee policy that was eliminated by the SDSU Administration in September and transfer student applicants from the colleges in the San Diego Community College district, Grossmont College, Cuyamaca College, and Southwestern college.
The request to Weber was crystallized at a Town Hall meeting sponsored by Assemblyman Marty Block, the United African American Ministerial Action Council, and several Community and Social Justice organizations on April 29. Assemblyman Block has introduced legislation that calls for local students to receive preference in the SDSU admissions process. According to Reverend Gerald Brown, one of the leaders in the coalition, “We applaud Assemblyman Block for championing the welfare of local students. His bills are needed and welcomed. However, they will benefit future applicants to SDSU, not the students who have been denied admission this year. We are attempting to assist the students who applied for Fall 2010, recognizing that for many the denial of admission means the loss of an opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree. These students played by the rules and had the rules arbitrarily and unjustly changed on them at the last minute.”
