With affirmative action gone, California shows what may come next

Just after lunch on a Thursday afternoon in late April, a chilly breeze and overcast sky have mostly blocked the sun from smiling on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The assistant director for diversity initiatives, Marcus Mathis, and a student helper from one of the school’s fraternities pile used paper plates, plastic utensils, and waste into huge trash bags.

Almost 200 mostly Black students from six high schools in Southern California’s Woodland Hills, some 80 miles southeast, have just left UCSB’s Loma Pelona Center. They spent the day listening to speakers, watching performances, and munching on catered grilled tri-tip, barbecue chicken, baked beans, potato salad, salad, freshly made garlic bread, and rice and peppers.

They didn’t come just for the food. They came to see faces that look like them – faces on heads with braids and Afros, with noticeable tattoos and familiar athletic wear – explain how they enrolled, navigated the mostly white affluent space that is UCSB, and found a family away from home to create memories that will travel through life.

“I’m glad this went well today. I spent a lot of nights worrying about how this would turn out,” Mr. Mathis says, mopping sweat from his brow as he looks up at Fluke Fluker, a recently retired high school teacher. Mr. Fluker is a founder of The Village Nation, a 20-year-old community-based organization that the school partnered with to get the students to campus. 

“UC Santa Barbara has been a jewel for us,” says Mr. Fluker. 

He started Village Nation,