Supreme Court to Rule on Race in College Admissions
Arguments for Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina were heard yesterday. It seems like the court is poised to end discrimination by race in the college admissions process...
https://www.wsj.com/articles/racial-discriminatio…
My takeaways of the arguments:
The arguments for race-based admissions...
1) Race is only one factor in admissions decisions and therefore unlikely to have outsized impact one way or another
2) Race-based admissions are necessary to correct for systemic imbalances in opportunities
3) Diversity enhances the educational experience for all participants
The arguments against race-based admissions...
1) If race doesn't have any impact....why is it considered at all?
2) It's unclear whether or not race-based admissions is actually working to correct for systemic opportunity imbalance...
a) Little to suggest that beneficiaries of race-based admissions are succeeding in taking advantage of the opportunities they're being given
b) No time-table for the end of race-based admissions suggesting the effort is either ineffectual or futile
3) "Diversity" is ill-defined and seems to be used as a catch-all for what university administrators want and impossible to quantify "benefit"
I'm no lawyer so would be interested in input from those more well-versed in legalese than I. If the decision comes out against race-based admissions, what will the impact be on student body demographics at the undergraduate and graduate levels? Will universities find a way to circumvent the law and discriminate to achieve "diversity" anyway?
Can't happen soon enough.
Trump was a flawed man but his SC picks have saved so many things in this country. after this reverse of gun laws and now race based admissions likely being restricted I can only get so erect!
Agreed
Really interested in this as well. If the court ends affirmative action, when is the earliest the new norm will be reflected in the college admissions process? Do you guys think business schools will start to weigh race less in this year's R2 and R3 because they know the end is coming and want to avoid a massive change in their classes' racial breakdown from right before the ruling to right after?
I really wonder if universities will actually change their practices. Its not difficult to ascertain someone's race based on other info in their application. During arguments, someone brought up that race-blind admissions is futile because candidates could discuss race in essays, etc. It seems to me that it wouldn't be hard for admissions committees to continue practicing racial bias without the use of "check boxes." Only way to really ensure they're adhering to race-blind principles would be to mandate some accountability/transparency....
Sure, but ruling out race-based admissions can only be a good thing. At the very least, the sentiment that considering race is frowned upon is sure to make colleges less bold with the way they blatantly place a huge weighting on it.
Not that my opinion matters for shit, but I'm hoping it doesn't get repealed. I think there has been a lot of past systemic racism that has had lasting negative impacts on significant portions of ethnic groups, particularly Africans and south Americans, that continue to bring inequity into the present. So I'm down for schools looking at race and using that as one input amongst many to help craft their class.
Harvard specifically has a representative proportion of students (~14% of America is black, which is just about mirrored at harvard, likewise with other ethnicities) which I think is great and makes sense to me why that's something you would aim for. Especially since Harvard says they could fill an entire other class with equally as qualified people; Harvard can make their class look like whatever they want and there would still be someone mad they didn't get in.
Love your username. But the current way institutions admit students is more anti-Asian than it is pro-Black/Latin.
Thanks~
How is it more anti one than pro the other? The way I see it one asian doesn't get in and one black kid does; even swap.
It is literally racist that you’re discriminating against Asian Americans. It’s not suddenly right to elevate one racial group at the expense of another
It is so backward that Asians and other ORMs get points off their profile just for their race. It’s systemic racism and clearly wrong
Libero sit est nam sunt hic. Dolor voluptate nobis impedit quaerat ex. Quia reprehenderit eveniet assumenda nesciunt itaque. Eum et quas inventore quis.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...