Students Protest at Berkeley

The day after university officials released the results of university first-year admissions without affirmative action, University of California-Berkeley students held various rallies throughout campus to protest the university's shift to race-blind admissions.

At Boalt Hall School of Law, where no Latino students and one black student enrolled last year, about 150 students held a walkout to protest the decline in underrepresented minority admits. The students then held a cookout in the afternoon.

"We wanted to get the message across to students that we are not alone in this crisis," said first-year law student Michael Murphy. "This is an issue that's much bigger than Boalt, or the University of California. The message is that nationwide, we are going to fight the regressive attack on affirmative action."

In lower Sproul Plaza late yesterday afternoon, more than 50 students showed up to a rally to express their concern about the future of diversity on the campus. The protests coincided with the National Day of Action to Defend Affirmative Action across college campuses nationwide. More than 60 U.S. universities participated in the event.