BERKELEY, Calif. – A fit of spring-cleaning led Eric Brooks to a box of old newspaper clips from 1997. That’s when he was the lone black student enrolled in the incoming law school class at the University of California, Berkeley, following the end of affirmative action admissions.
He didn’t read them. That box doesn’t hold pleasant memories.
“I felt bad for myself at the time because of my situation, but worse for the people who were denied admission,” said Brooks.