Race in College Admissions Is a No No

 

SERINA LIN JENNIFER SU Staff Writers

Just last year, Harvard University faced a lawsuit claiming that it discriminated against Asian-American applicants. Though the school denied this, affirmative action has been the topic of many discussions. With regard to college applications in general, affirmative action is applied in order to increase diversity in schools.

However, it can be viewed as unjust to those who are applying to schools with better scholastic records than the applicants who were accepted via affirmative action diversity algorithms. Colleges and Universities should not consider race as a deciding factor when evaluating applications. This is patently unfair and divisive. It is in fact the same discrimination that inspired affirmative action in the first place. Often those who are higher achievers are unfairly passed over when their applications for colleges are reviewed and evaluated in favor of an outdated racially motivated selection process that attempts to spread diversification across the student population.

Affirmative Action is the knee jerk reaction by government officials attempting to spread opportunity across the masses in an effort to be fair and erase historical injustices. Affirmative Action was meant to be altruistic but has outlived its purpose and in fact has created reverse discrimination in the end. When schools do not have enough racial diversity they are forced to meet  their requirements by turning away students who are part of a majority demographic in favor of those who are not. Even if they are not as well accomplished.

This is an unethical process because many of the students being turned away have truly worked to get where they are academically. People may argue that Affirmative Action brings equity to many students struggling to achieve academically due to socioeconomic factors they cannot change. However, it essentially causes inequality due to the race factor which by definition, is racist. Colleges should be prioritizing students who are better achievers in their high school career and not just because they are minorities.

Colleges should begin considering moving away from affirmative action to accept students who deserve a place in their schools. Competition can be fierce at the collegiate level and there are many ethnic groups now to consider when applying Affirmative Action guidelines. Eventually, college boards will be challenged on the methodology used to create the diversification. Specific ethnic groups may challenge fairness of the diversification ratios in an effort to gain more representation on school campuses but there are already campuses that segregate by race with regard to dormitory living assignments.

This discrimination can have a very negative impact on campus harmony. Affirmative Action has run its course. There are so many more ethnic groups in the country today than when affirmative action was originally implemented, including those for whom a diversification algorithm would be problematic. In the end, the only discriminating factor should be the students ability to learn.