California Civil Rights Coalition

We are happy to report there is much going on with the California Coalition for Civil Rights:

• The CaCCR Steering Committee and others have been working hard to take CaCCR to the next level. In particular, we wish to acknowledge Jamie Studley, Malcolm Yeung, Ellen Buchman, Tom Layton and Tim Silard for their support.
• The CaCCR Steering Committee has elected new Co-Chairs! Amy Everitt, State Director of NARAL Pro-Choice California (http://bit.ly/6tFbMU), will serve one year, and Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel of MALDEF (http://bit.ly/6zJzrd), will serve two.
• Expansion of Steering Committee and CaCCR Membership: The Steering Committee will soon be expanded to 15 members. A committee has been tasked with recruitment and is looking to increase in size by five members. CaCCR is also looking to expand its general membership particularly in other geographic areas of the state such as the Central Valley, San Diego/Imperial County, Inland Empire and the Sacramento, North Coast and Los Angeles areas.
• Equal Justice Society as Project Manager: EJS has been contracted as project manager to help build the capacity of CaCCR. This contract was made possible by the Rosenberg Foundation, Public Interest Projects, Gerbode Foundation and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. CaCCR has contracted Mike Allison to facilitate discussions on governance and building infrastructure.
• CaCCR Project Coordinator: EJS has hired Claudia Peña to serve as a full-time CaCCR Project Coordinator.
• CaCCR Letter to UC President Mark Yudoff: CaCCR sent a letter to UC Regents and President Mark Yudoff criticizing the new freshman admission policy. Research conducted by the UC itself showed the policy would very likely have a negative impact on the admission of students of color yet the latest summary from UCOP attempted to diminish this fact. Working in collaboration with Henry Der and Vincent Pan, the letter was sent to Yudoff and copied to the ethnic legislative caucuses with 41 signatories!
• Next Full CaCCR Membership Meeting: To be announced, but coming soon.