Results of the first year of affirmative action being excluded as an admissions consideration to schools in the University of California system are in. At the Berkeley campus, admission offers for next fall’s freshman class to black and Hispanic students have plummeted. Out of 8,000 students offered admission, 191 were black, down from 562 last year; 434 Hispanics were accepted, down from 1,045. At the UCLA campus, acceptances to black students fell by 43 percent – 33 percent for Hispanics.

Though both campuses received more applications from minorities with stronger academic credentials than previous years, school officials expect the number of minority students who actually enroll to be significantly lower. The numbers are a source of great concern for the UC schools system, as well as the nation.

The need for affirmative action remains as strong now as when it first was developed and implemented. The purpose of a college education is to give students a chance to learn and, upon graduation, improve their chances at leading a better life than their parents did. High standardized test scores are crucial for admission to prestigious universities. Research shows that minorities as a whole usually fare worse on these tests than their white counterparts.

It also does not take a rocket scientist to know that those who live in the inner-city amid crime and poverty will not be able to match the grades of those who are products of suburbia’s high tax base and private schools.

Affirmative action is the best, though admittedly flawed, response to these problems of race, society and economics. College is the best place for students to learn and interact with an amazing array of races, cultures and backgrounds. What type of nation will we be if those in the positions of power all are cut from the same cloth? Such a lack of diversity would be intolerable.