UC Admissions and Fund-Raising

* Re “VIPs Do Influence Some Admissions, UC Provost Says,” May 17:

I am a 1970 graduate of UCLA. My daughter was admitted to UC Berkeley in the Class of 1995. My admission to the university in 1966 and my daughter’s recent admission were, I trust, on the basis of merit.

I take strong exception to a policy which permits a single student who is qualified for admission to be denied admission so that a student who has access to influence is admitted.

The “public trust” in the admissions process with regard to the University of California must take precedence over the power of “influence.”

BRIAN D. GREENBERG

San Diego

* I am struck by the dichotomy of your front page headlines:

“VIP’s Do Influence Some Admissions, UC Provost Says,” and “UCLA Given $45 Million for Science Center.”

The UC universities have historically ignored their alumni and big donors. As a result the UC alumni donor statistics are the worst of any of the major U.S. universities. Universities that have tremendous alumni support, like Harvard, Stanford and Notre Dame, have routinely given preferential admission to the children of alumni and big donors.

In this period of dramatically declining state support of the UC system, any UC chancellor who isn’t out hustling for support should be fired. Somehow, it’s hard to believe that bending the rules for far less than 1% of the incoming freshmen damages the integrity of a 40,000-student university. A few $45-million donations certainly will go a long way toward improving the education of the other 99% of the students. Let’s get real and support the UCs in their fund-raising efforts.

ROBERT C. HETRICK

Santa Monica