In a recent article by International Business Times, “Are
Legacy Preferences Affirmative Action For White Students? How Supreme Court
Case Could Influence College Admissions,” the author argues that if the Supreme
Court rules that affirmative action is illegal, accepting students based on
legacy status should also be illegal. The Supreme Court is expected to rule
soon about Abigail Fisher vs the University of Texas at Austin. In the case,
Fisher claims that because of affirmative action, she was denied acceptance
into UT Austin while other less qualified minority students were accepted. Many
people believe that the Supreme Court will rule is Fisher’s favor, which will
strike down the practice of affirmative action. The author believes that if
affirmative action is struck down, so should the practice of accepting legacy
students.
Affirmative
action is the admissions practice of favoring a minority student over a
non-Hispanic white student. Affirmative action is very controversial but its
proponents argue that it has allowed college campuses to become diverse spaces,
rather than the all white spaces they used to be. Those against the policy
believe that students should get into college on their own merit, not by their
race. The author argues that legacy status is affirmative action for white
students. In both cases, students are being admitted based on their lineage,
not solely based in their individual merit. But in the case of minority students,
affirmative action helps minority and underprivileged students go college, sometimes
for the first time in their family. In the case of legacies, the students do not
need to be accepted into their parent’s Alma mater in order to go to college.
They only want to continue the tradition of that institution in their family. Most
legacies, especially in the Ivy League schools, are from white families because
of past discrimination.
Schools continue to use affirmative
action policies in order to create a diverse campus. It is in the best interests
of all of their students to learn about many different backgrounds and cultures
by living with and going to class with a diverse student population. Schools
continue to use legacy admissions policies to boost family pride for their
university, boost alumni donations, and boost their network for post-graduate opportunities.
The universities that use legacy admissions claim that if they stopped, their
alumni would stop donating and stop hiring their graduates.
I believe in affirmative action. I
am willing to not be accepted into one university in order for all universities
to have more diverse campuses. As a white middle class woman, even if I did not
get into my top choice school, I still had opportunities to go to college. But
I also agree with the author. If affirmative action is struck down, legacy
admission practices should also stop. If not, we are just giving white students
more opportunities to oppress minorities.
http://www.ibtimes.com/are-legacy-preferences-affirmative-action-white-students-how-supreme-court-case-could-2361713
I found this post very interesting, however I would have to disagree with your stance on affirmative action. One of the things misrepresented in affirmative action is that it is not beneficial for all minorities. For example, as an Asian American living in this country, it is extremely difficult to get into schools because of the competitive nature. I believe admission into schools should be based purely on merit. However, what I would say is that in a perfect world this would be the best option for colleges but as stated into the article, merit isn’t the only thing schools are looking at. For example, even at Rhodes college I believe it is easier for students to be admitted if they are willing to pay full tuition as opposed to those who cannot. Money and legacy play a huge factor into the admission of major schools across the country. Going back to the issue of affirmative action, I am all for having diversity on campus, but I think people should be qualified. I don’t look at it as a matter of race, I truly believe that if someone is more qualified than me than he should get the position regardless of their skin color. While some may argue that this opens the door for discrimination, I would argue that there every race has capable individuals that should be accepted by merit to colleges. I think that white Americans have every right to an equal and fair opportunity for education as everyone else. While affirmative action was essential and incredibly beneficial in its first implementation, I don’t think it’s as important today in regards to admission. In terms of admitting legacy students, I feel that it is incredibly difficult to stop schools from doing this because of money. All institutions are run by money and it is probably the most important thing that schools are looking at. Alumni donations are a huge part of a college’s income, because of this, I would say it would be incredibly optimistic to say that we can eliminate this. While I agree that this should be taken away, I am unsure how schools would be convinced to agree to this policy.
ReplyDeleteBoth Jason's and Katiebeth's points about affirmative action and legacies are important in todays' college admissions process. Many white people in particular think affirmative action isn't fair because for the first time in their lives, they are at some sort of disadvantage so in some ways I agree with Katiebeth because the way that our society is structured doesn't give near as many opportunities to minorities.
ReplyDeleteThe point Jason brings up about being an Asian American in the college admissions process is particularly important because more than other minorities in America, is a very complicated story. Many studies of college admissions show that in admitting Asians, they hold them to a higher standard of even most white students because of the discriminatory "Asian A" where an A in normal standard grading isn't thought to be good enough.
College admissions has become very complex over the last twenty years especially because colleges have changed the way they admit students and why. Colleges don't just want students with good grades, they want students with diverse extracurriculars and a great admittance essay. They want to get to know students rather than accept all those with a 3.0 or higher. Because of this I think it's ok for a student with a 3.5 to get denied over a student with a 3.0 because the student with a 3.0 has an exceptional repertoire of extracurriculars. As far as race is concerned, however, I do think legacies have a lot of basis in race, particularly in white students.