Its great they are making an effort to boost diversity, but I don't see how a single year jump this large was accomplished without implementing affirmative action.
The UC system already has an ongoing lawsuit over affirmative action in their admission practices, it's a bit scary that they are now so blatantly violating state law.
It's weird they defend this dramatic admissions change by saying the SAT scores are unchanged, yet at the same time, they're getting rid of SAT scores as an admissions criteria moving forward. Are they holding back URMs or not?
What has changed though is that UCB has a new admissions dean.
You say this as if I'm just supposed to accept it, but I don't believe it. UCB, along with UCLA, are the top tier of the UC system. I don't think it's a big stretch to think that someone who might be applying to UCB wouldn't be applying to UCSD.
I'm not coming straight out and saying you're wrong here, but I am saying this is a statement that needs supporting.