The race for diversity on campus is bearing fruit at a time when the Hispanic community is claiming its rightful place not only at the polls, but in society at-large. 

So it's no surprise that the University of California released preliminary admissions data last Thursday, proving we are living through a historic milestone:

Freshman Latinos have for the first time surpassed Asian Americans as the largest ethnic group admitted to college for the next school year, at least 36% of the 79,953 UC students in California.

It is closely followed by Asian-Americans at 35%, white students at 21% and only 5% of new students are Black. The report also noted that there are no Native American or Pacific-Islander freshmen, although 3% of those surveyed refused to say their ethnicity. 

According to a statement, UC has increased the offer of admission to students from underrepresented groups by 16% this year, as it has done for incoming students from low-income families — up from 40% to 44%. 

In addition, the nine campuses have admitted 119,054 first-year students for the coming academic year, compared to 108,178 last year.

"This has been an incredibly challenging time as many students have been making their college choices in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic," said UC President Janet Napolitano, adding that "UC continues to see an increase in admissions of underrepresented students as we seek to educate a diverse student body of future leaders. The incoming class will be one of the most talented and diverse yet, and UC is proud to invite them to join us."

By campus, UC Berkeley has accepted the most Chicano and Latino freshmen, some 3,379, the highest ratio since the late 1980s. 

"We are demonstrating that you can admit a diversity that is academically excellent," said UC Berkeley's associate vice chancellor and director of admissions Olufemi Ogundele, who stressed the importance of making sure that greater diversity does not compromise the school's high academic standards — the GPA for the freshman class admitted this coming year is 3.91, the same as last year.

But will the campuses even be open this fall considering the coronavirus pandemic? While there are plans to do so, that remains to be seen.