In November 1996, voters narrowly passed the California Civil Rights Initiative, which amended the state Constitution to prohibit public institutions from discriminating on the basis of race, sex or ethnicity. Supporters of Proposition 209 contended that existing affirmative action programs led public employers and universities to reject applicants based on their race. Opponents argued that it would end affirmative action practices of tutoring, mentoring, outreach and recruitment of women and minorities in California universities and businesses.

UC President Emeritus Richard Atkinson will discuss the impact this amendment has had on the University of California system.

Before becoming president of the UC System, Atkinson served for 15 years as chancellor of UCSD, where he led the campus's emergence as one of the leading research universities in the nation. He is a former director of the National Science Foundation, past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, was a long-term member of the faculty at Stanford University, and is professor emeritus in the UCSD Departments of Psychology and Cognitive Science. His research in the field of cognitive science and psychology has been concerned with problems of memory and cognition. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Education and the American Philosophical Society.

The cost to attend the event is $65, which includes parking and dinner. For more information or reservations, please contact Michelle Glenn at (858) 822-0805 or mglenn@ucsd.edu.