Responding to the controversial affirmative-action decision by the UC Board of Regents this summer, students, faculty, staff and administrators will gather to discuss how the retreat from racial preferences will affect diversity on college campuses around the country. "Beyond the Rhetoric of Diversity: Culture, Climate and Curriculum" is the title of the two-day conference, which includes nationally known speakers such as Manny Marable, professor of history and political science and director of the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University, as well as UC Regent Ralph Carmona. In addition to the affirmative-action issue, the California Civil Rights Initiative and undergraduate education will be covered in the second annual diversity conference, scheduled for Friday, Sept. 15, and Saturday, Sept. 16, at UC Davis. The sessions begin at 9 a.m. in the Griffin Lounge of the Memorial Union. "UC's quest for diversity will continue despite the regents' new policy," says Francisco Rodriguez, director of the UC Davis Cross-Cultural Center, the group hosting the conference. "It is important that we find new ways to ensure that our communities are broadly representative of the people of this state."