The government is reportedly urging colleges to ramp up their efforts regarding racial diversity with scholarships and by placing “meaningful emphasis” on the struggles students face because of their racial backgrounds and financial situations.
Strategies to Increase Diversity
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to ban colleges from considering the race of potential students during the application process, the government issued a report promoting strategies to increase diversity. As per request from President Joe Biden, the report aims to advance diversity without going against the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona announced the report, calling on college leaders to “break down barriers for underserved students and reimagine pathways into higher education.” Cardona also said: “Our future is brighter when we prepare students of all backgrounds to lead our multiracial democracy together.”
Merely a Suggestion
It’s important to note that the report is merely guidance – a suggestion. Colleges will not be forced to act on its ideas. Regardless, Rep. Bobby Scott said: “Without policies to counterbalance the discriminatory factors, the outcome of the system will remain discriminatory.”
Targeted Outreach and Community Colleges
The report suggests that colleges focus their outreach on areas with lots of working-class families and non-White students. Moreover, it urges them to admit more students transferring from community colleges and highlights the importance of financial aid.
Students Overcoming Hardship
The report also encourages colleges to consider any hardship potential students have overcome, including racial discrimination. Some people have criticized this, calling it a loophole designed to indirectly consider race in the application process.
Perseverance and Resilience
The guidance said: “An applicant’s personal experiences with hardship or discrimination, including racial discrimination, and their ability to overcome those experiences may speak to their perseverance and resilience.”
The Supreme Court’s Decision
The Supreme Court’s ruling does not ban the aforementioned practice. While colleges are not allowed to directly consider a potential student’s race during the application process, there is nothing stopping them from assessing the way a young person overcame hardships throughout their life. Aside from racial discrimination, these hardships could include homophobia, transphobia, ableism, serious illness, poverty, and abuse.
The Problem of Legacy Admissions
The government also addressed legacy admissions – the practice of awarding college places to individuals who have a family history at said college. It pointed out that such admissions “may further advantage privileged communities in a manner that is at odds with expanding educational opportunity.”
Johns Hopkins University
The report used Johns Hopkins University as an example to back up its point. The school stopped legacy admissions in 2014 and, since then, the number of Black, Native American, and Latino students attending the institution has increased from 18% to 34%.
Standardized Tests and Early Applicants
Standardized tests like the SAT have been criticized for favoring wealthier applicants with the funds necessary to access prep. Moreover, early applicants who commit to attending have been linked to wealthier backgrounds with less of a need for financial aid. As such, the report also suggested that colleges end preferences for early applicants and rethink their emphasis on standardized tests in the application process.
The Internet’s Response
News of the guidance was shared across the internet and commenters were divided. “The result of diversity and affirmative action, which is racist all day, is to give less qualified [people] something that more qualified [people] deserve,” one person said.
Overcoming Systemic Barriers
Replying to the aforementioned individual, another commenter said: “It isn’t racist. Affirmative action was historically an instrument that colleges could use to ensure that students of color receive fair consideration for admissions given the systemic barriers. It’s pretty simple to understand.”
Ivy League Schools and Legacy Admissions
Also replying to the commenter calling affirmative action ‘racist,’ another person said: “The majority of students in Ivy League schools are only there because of legacy admissions and huge donations. Those folks aren’t qualified to be there but yeah, let’s attack affirmative action.”
A Politically Diverse Campus
Right-wingers said that colleges should be more politically diverse. “I agree. They should make campuses more diverse. They should step up their efforts to bring more conservative students and faculty in,” one commenter said. “No one is preventing them from applying. Most polls indicate that higher education is not a priority among right-wingers,” another hit back.
Misconceptions About Affirmative Action
Critics of the guidance seemed to think that affirmative action allowed students who did not meet standards to achieve college places over those who did. Replying to such individuals, one commenter wrote: “You folks keep pretending that affirmative action allowed people who had lower grades to get ahead and it’s simply a lie.”
A Lack of Understanding
Another person said: “People seriously don’t understand this situation and it really shows. All you conservatives saying to just give the college places to the people who deserve them – that’s what we’re trying to do. Your ignorance in regard to the barriers PoC and the working class face is astounding. Also, I see you’re silent about legacy admissions.”
Conservative Silence on Legacy Admissions
The aforementioned commenter was correct. Comment sections were full of conservative individuals calling for college places to simply go to those who most deserve them and for racial diversity to be entirely irrelevant. The same people neglected to mention legacy admissions, even when asked to address the subject by others.
Claims of Reverse Racism
Another individual said: “White people claiming to be victims of racism makes me sick. Affirmative action is not racism. You people are beyond ignorant of the struggles and hardships people face. I need to get out of this country.”
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