Pro: A rmative Action

Article by Reese Taylor Graphics by Andrew Edwards is past month, the Supreme Court began its hearings for the cases Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With it, the conversations surrounding a rmative action have once again resurfaced in the American consciousness.

For minority students, the conversations beFor minority students, the conversations belittling e orts at a rmative action are incredlittling e orts at a rmative action are incredibly damaging. Watching classmates, teachers ibly damaging. Watching classmates, teachers and administrators across the nation praise the and administrators across the nation praise the end of SAT/ACT testing because it “levels the end of SAT/ACT testing because it “levels the playing eld” only to claim that a rmative acplaying eld” only to claim that a rmative action is unfair has an unambiguous message: I tion is unfair has an unambiguous message: I support all e orts to create equality, unless I support all e orts to create equality, unless I believe it will not bene t me.

Proponents against using race as a factor in Proponents against using race as a factor in admittance often argue that it’s the beginning admittance often argue that it’s the beginning of creating a more fair and just college admission process. However, when every other system in place today is everything but “fair and just” this becomes an excuse to disadvantage just” this becomes an excuse to disadvantage already struggling demographics. Whether it’s already struggling demographics. Whether it’s access to standardized testing prep, educationaccess to standardized testing prep, educational/career opportunities, or simply how intellial/career opportunities, or simply how intelligent their instructors will believe they are, migent their instructors will believe they are, minority students are hurt at every turn.

THE ROLE OF LEGACY ADMISSION

e reality is a rmative action has become a red herring for many of the truly unfair parts of college admissions. e Harvard Crimson said that between 2014 and 2019 the acceptance rate for legacy students was 33% in comparison to the overall acceptance rate of 6% of those years’ cycles.

For the University of Pennsylvania, it was over 20%. For Princeton University (which has a 4% acceptance rate) it was over 30%. According to an article by e Atlantic, being a legacy student at a top university correlates to a 45% better chance of acceptance.

If eradicating a rmative action is an attempt to equalize college admission, then standard admissions processes should begin with exam-

ining the

status of legacy admittance rather than targeting an already small percentage of minority students. ining the

status of legacy admittance rather than targeting an already small percentage of minority

MINORITY REPRESENTATION

Moreover, the University of Michigan and University of California are clear examples that without factoring race into admissions numbers of minority students in undergraduate classes will continue to dwindle.

Over 15 years ago, due to anti-a rmative action cases both institutions were forced to end their use in admissions. According to e New York Times, despite the millions of dollars poured into outreach programs (for e University of California, more than half a billion dollars) numbers of Black and other minority students stay remarkably low. Notably, the University of Michigan’s Black student population hit just 4%.

A rmative action is an attempt to push socially, historically and economically disadvantaged students into educational institutions that excluded them until just a generation ago. According to e Columbia Current, Columbia University did not accept Black students at any signi cant rate until the late 1960s.

e University of California, more than half a billion dollars) numbers of Black and other minority students stay remarkably low. Nota-

BARRIERS TO EDUCATION

Black and Latino Americans face barriers in all sectors of life that prevent them from achieving the level of education of other

Conversations about a rmative action neglect the barriers minority students face

groups in the U.S. even during the pre-2022 Supreme Court Case era. Too often, when the standardized testing scores or GPA of Black and non-Black admissions are compared it becomes a source of contention. What this disregards is that a rmative action attempts to account for the barriers that Black students face that non-Black students do not. e Hechinger columnist and published author Andre Perry said, “Standardized tests are better proxies for how many opportunities a student has been a orded than they are predictors for students’ potential.”

For Black students, those opportunities aren’t only economically based in nature but socially. According to the Brookings Institute, even when in better funded, predominantly white schools, any advantage Black students get in education is “...o set by the social costs of being in an overwhelmingly white enviroment.”

According to Johns Hopkins University, when evaluating the same Black student, a white teacher is around 30% less likely than a Black teacher to predict the student will complete a four-year degree, and white teachers are 40% less likely to assume Black students will graduate from high school.

Another argument against a rmative action is that it will undermine the achievements of minority students who do manage to attend these institutions. However, this argument comes from a place of privilege.

It is exhausting to constantly prove that you deserve a seat at the table but, statistically, it is a privilege to have a seat to defend at all.

THE NEED FOR EQUALITY

“I thought that part of what it meant to be an American and to believe in American pluralism is that actually our institutions…are re ective of who we are as — as a people vcvin all our variety,” said Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan during one of the days of the hearing.

Education is the gateway for equality. In medicine, according to the University of Michigan, more Black physicians could reduce the Black-white mortality gap in heart disease by 19%. In law, according to the People for American Way and USA Today, an increase of people of color into our judicial system can help combat overcriminalization and unfair policy within those populations.

As Justice Kagan said, our institutions need to be re ective of the American people. We should push minority students into medicine, engineering, law, tech, and the like because it will better society as a whole. e social and economic barriers that people of color face breaking into academic institutions and higher institutions are clear. However, their presence within them is necessary.

Minority students still do not make up a proportional amount of undergraduate admittance classes under current case precedent. It is clear that current policy is not nearly as much of an advantage as it is often made out to be. Rather, it has allowed the general American news cycle and psyche to take their focus away from legacy admissions and other more significant admissions practices and instead demonize the admittance of high achieving minority students.

A rmative action cannot end until as a nation we fully face the economic and social barriers we uphold. While a rmative action is not the sole solution for these barriers, it is a start to creating equality. When we choose to not support a rmative action, we choose to not recognize our past.