The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that Michigan’s ban on affirmative action at public universities was constitutional. Other states have similar bans, and more may follow suit.
Do you support affirmative action in college admissions? Should public universities be allowed to use race and ethnicity as factors in deciding who is admitted?
In “Court Backs Michigan on Affirmative Action,” Adam Liptak writes:
In a fractured decision that revealed deep divisions over what role the judiciary should play in protecting racial and ethnic minorities, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a Michigan constitutional amendment that bans affirmative action in admissions to the state’s public universities.
The 6-to-2 ruling effectively endorsed similar measures in seven other states. It may also encourage more states to enact measures banning the use of race in admissions or to consider race-neutral alternatives to ensure diversity.
States that forbid affirmative action in higher education, like Florida and California, as well as Michigan, have seen a significant drop in the enrollment of black and Hispanic students in their most selective colleges and universities.
Last time we asked a similar question, in 2011, Faith made the following argument in favor of affirmative action:
Seeing students at my own high school is a reason to support affirmative action. Granted, there are times when it doesn’t always work, but it helps more than it harms. Many of my friends are trying to get ahead, but it is not their fault that their parents can’t review their essays, it’s not their fault they can’t afford review books, it’s not their fault they can’t do every extracurricular because they are busy taking care of siblings or bringing home a paycheck for bills, it’s not their fault that they have every odd against them. I know too many people that need affirmative action to help them get into a good college, because quite frankly, I have never met smarter people. Their grades and scores may not be what mine are, but I guarantee they are smarter, and work harder than I do, and I work hard. So, even though I have a 2200, a 3.7 GPA, and a #5 ranking of 519 students with extraordinary credentials, I wouldn’t think twice if my friends were admitted before me because they deserve it more.
In contrast, Ashley K. recently wrote in opposition of affirmative action for our recent editorial contest:
At what point can racial discrimination end? When can all people be simply viewed as equal individuals where race and ethnicity are no longer acknowledged?
On college campuses, I agree that diversity is an important aspect of growing more socially and culturally aware. However, I believe that basing the acceptance of applicants on their race rather than their academic achievements weakens the idea of gaining a higher education and is truly unfair to applicants of all racial and ethnic groups. The point of attending a university is to gain wisdom and knowledge, not to spend time with the most diverse group of people that can be gathered together.
I, as a Pacific Islander, have always benefited from the implementation of affirmative action, and yet I am appalled by the idea of being given an advantage in college admissions based strictly on the ethnicity with which I identify. I am constantly frustrated that I may only have been accepted to certain institutions based on nothing more than the fact that I will help fulfill their diversity proportion. I may never know if my academics alone, without my ethnicity, would have been sufficient for me to attend a prestigious university. Instead, I feel as if all of my achievements are demeaned because of my identification with a non-white ethnicity and judged by others who may believe that I was only accepted to certain universities because of my ethnicity and not my academic standings.
Students: Read the entire article, then answer TWO of the questions
— Do you support affirmative action? How important is diversity on college campuses? Does society have an obligation to try to right past injustices?
— Or is affirmative action unfair? Do you agree with Ashley K.’s argument above that affirmative action does a disservice to minority students by putting a question mark on their achievements?
— Is affirmative action the most effective way to promote a diverse student body? Would alternative policies, such as admitting the top students from each high school in the state or taking family income into account, be equally or more effective?
Do you support affirmative action in college admissions? Should public universities be allowed to use race and ethnicity as factors in deciding who is admitted?
In “Court Backs Michigan on Affirmative Action,” Adam Liptak writes:
In a fractured decision that revealed deep divisions over what role the judiciary should play in protecting racial and ethnic minorities, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a Michigan constitutional amendment that bans affirmative action in admissions to the state’s public universities.
The 6-to-2 ruling effectively endorsed similar measures in seven other states. It may also encourage more states to enact measures banning the use of race in admissions or to consider race-neutral alternatives to ensure diversity.
States that forbid affirmative action in higher education, like Florida and California, as well as Michigan, have seen a significant drop in the enrollment of black and Hispanic students in their most selective colleges and universities.
Last time we asked a similar question, in 2011, Faith made the following argument in favor of affirmative action:
Seeing students at my own high school is a reason to support affirmative action. Granted, there are times when it doesn’t always work, but it helps more than it harms. Many of my friends are trying to get ahead, but it is not their fault that their parents can’t review their essays, it’s not their fault they can’t afford review books, it’s not their fault they can’t do every extracurricular because they are busy taking care of siblings or bringing home a paycheck for bills, it’s not their fault that they have every odd against them. I know too many people that need affirmative action to help them get into a good college, because quite frankly, I have never met smarter people. Their grades and scores may not be what mine are, but I guarantee they are smarter, and work harder than I do, and I work hard. So, even though I have a 2200, a 3.7 GPA, and a #5 ranking of 519 students with extraordinary credentials, I wouldn’t think twice if my friends were admitted before me because they deserve it more.
In contrast, Ashley K. recently wrote in opposition of affirmative action for our recent editorial contest:
At what point can racial discrimination end? When can all people be simply viewed as equal individuals where race and ethnicity are no longer acknowledged?
On college campuses, I agree that diversity is an important aspect of growing more socially and culturally aware. However, I believe that basing the acceptance of applicants on their race rather than their academic achievements weakens the idea of gaining a higher education and is truly unfair to applicants of all racial and ethnic groups. The point of attending a university is to gain wisdom and knowledge, not to spend time with the most diverse group of people that can be gathered together.
I, as a Pacific Islander, have always benefited from the implementation of affirmative action, and yet I am appalled by the idea of being given an advantage in college admissions based strictly on the ethnicity with which I identify. I am constantly frustrated that I may only have been accepted to certain institutions based on nothing more than the fact that I will help fulfill their diversity proportion. I may never know if my academics alone, without my ethnicity, would have been sufficient for me to attend a prestigious university. Instead, I feel as if all of my achievements are demeaned because of my identification with a non-white ethnicity and judged by others who may believe that I was only accepted to certain universities because of my ethnicity and not my academic standings.
Students: Read the entire article, then answer TWO of the questions
— Do you support affirmative action? How important is diversity on college campuses? Does society have an obligation to try to right past injustices?
— Or is affirmative action unfair? Do you agree with Ashley K.’s argument above that affirmative action does a disservice to minority students by putting a question mark on their achievements?
— Is affirmative action the most effective way to promote a diverse student body? Would alternative policies, such as admitting the top students from each high school in the state or taking family income into account, be equally or more effective?