When Carnesale was appointed at UCLA, California's Proposition 209 had just gone into effect, forbidding all state institutions from giving preference in admissions based on race or ethnicity. Carnesale believed diversity was essential in order for UCLA to fulfill its responsibilities as a public university. He cited three reasons: 1) Diversity is essential for providing the best possible education because students learn from each other. 2) Diversity is necessary in order to prepare leaders for all segments of society—a charge of public universities. 3) Education is key to social and economic mobility. He said affirmative action is just one means of achieving diversity. "We can encourage minority students whose records make them eligible to apply, and then encourage those admitted to enroll. . . .We have to get more minorities eligible we have to get more engaged in the high schools. . . . Equal opportunity should be a goal, an aspiration." In May 1998, 88 UCLA students were arrested for refusing to leave a building during a 12-hour non-violent protest, demanding that Carnesale defy Prop 209. He replied that while he supported diversity on campus, he could not ignore Prop 209. "I came to this university, knowing that Prop 209 would go into effect on my watch," he said. "I made the decision that it was important to do the best we could within the law, rather than stay at Harvard and not try."