Hope Morris

Professor McCue

Honors 205

16 October 2018

Is the practice of affirmative action in college admissions valid?

Higher education in America has traditionally been seen as a privilege, an opportunity

only the rich and the few could afford. However, the past fifty years has seen a rise in attendance

at colleges and universities across the country as higher education is becoming more accessible

and increasingly relevant. One instrument responsible for this radical change has been

affirmative action, a hotly debated practice in college admissions that considers the applicant’s

race during the admissions process. Affirmative action is controversial even today, as seen in the

court case a group called the Students for Fair Admissions filed against Harvard University,

claiming that the university uses racial quotas for Asian Americans and views them negatively

compared to other applicants. While racial quotas have been ruled illegal, the process and

concept of affirmative action still remains integral to college admissions. In our growing society

today, affirmative action is still needed to ensure diversity and opportunity for all people in

college.

Through the use of affirmative action, universities can create a diverse and representative

student body. Every school should have a vested interest in diversity, as having a class full of

people who are from different backgrounds and who have different opinions leads to more

success and better ideas. A classroom full of students who are all the same will never come up

with as many ideas and solutions as one where a wide variety of experiences and knowledge is

shared amongst its students. Not only is diversity important for the spread of ideas, but a diverse
student body is also more representative of the different populations and people in the world. A

college of all-white students, or all males, will fail to see the perspective of women or minorities,

and those voices will never be heard. This may seem unlikely, but could actually be created by

colorblind admissions, the alternative to race-conscious affirmative action. The implementation

of colorblind admissions in some schools has already been shown to decrease diversity in

schools and create a more homogenous student body. As America is becoming more diverse, so

must its colleges and universities.

Affirmative action also benefits the minorities who have, both historically and in the

present, had more obstacles to their education than others. The most notable and most often

mentioned populations are African Americans and Latinos, as both are more likely to live in

poverty and less secure living situations than whites. While not true for everyone, many of these

minorities are first-generation college students. They may not have been provided the same

opportunities and resources to build their resumes in high school. Especially those who live

below the poverty line do not have the money to afford college tutors, to learn how to code on a

computer, or to drive themselves to school and activities.

The chance to go to college is so important because acceptance to college translates into

an opportunity and pathway to a degree and a job. High-paying jobs in America are already

disproportionate to the demographics: it is much more likely to see white males in positions of

power than minorities or women. If everyone is given the same chance in college, and campuses

increasingly become more diverse, then it becomes more likely that diverse voices will fill these

positions. Acceptance to college is therefore an opportunity for disadvantaged students to change

their future.
 The whole intention of affirmative action is to positively affect a student’s chances of

admission, not negatively. In fact, Justice Stephen Breyer cited that affirmative action is about

“inclusion, not exclusion”. But does a factor that positively affect one student negatively affect

another? For example, does a Hispanic woman who applies with a 3.5 GPA make it harder for an

Asian American male with a 3.7 GPA to get in?

The answer is unclear because holistic admissions means that a student’s GPA and test

scores are not the only factors in determining acceptance. There are a variety of questions- Did

the student take difficult classes? Did they have to support their family at home?

Should affirmative action always have to do with race, as is so often assumed? As a

concept, affirmative action should not be reliant on stereotyping and judging how an applicant’s

race affects them. Diversity also exists in terms of gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, and

other factors that all contribute to an applicant’s worldview and resources. African Americans

and Latinos are not always struggling economically; Asians and whites are not always middle

class or affluent. In fact, almost the opposite is true: poverty does not discriminate.

If affirmative action is ‘positive discrimination’, it should not negatively judge those who

are not discriminated against. Instead, it balances on the concept of equity, which is that some

people need more help than others to achieve the same goal. This imbalance was not created by

the individual’s lack of qualification or work ethic, but by the increased obstacles they had in

their way just because of who they are or how much money they have. And, yes, these obstacles

are often because of, or relevant to, the applicant’s race. So while there are several other factors

to consider in an applicant, some arguably more important, race still defines something about the

applicant.
 The Harvard trial also begs a few questions: Is diversity a price for fairness? What is fair?

Is it fair to accept 100 Asian Americans, and not a single African American? As more students

flock to top universities, the application pool becomes wider and thus the acceptance rate

narrows. Not everyone will get in, so is it ok to admit the Asian American male over the

Hispanic woman? Or the other way around?

The truth is that because college admissions is holistic, it is difficult to determine what is

fair or not. Out of the large application pool to Harvard, there are probably thousands of people

who would succeed there that were rejected. This essentially gives the Harvard admissions

committee the opportunity to shape the culture of their school by choosing a combination of

students. And if they have the opportunity to, why shouldn’t they make it diverse? Why

shouldn’t they try to be fair to the largest amount of people possible?

It’s not as if no Asian Americans ever get into Harvard. In fact, they currently make up

about 22 percent of the student body, compared to 14 percent African Americans and 11 percent

Latinos. This shows that Harvard did make an effort to cultivate a diverse campus, and it’s up to

debate whether the proportion of Asian Americans to whites is fair. But college admissions,

while it considers race, is not meant to look at race by the numbers. If affirmative action is used

as intended, universities should gain a wide range of students and backgrounds without ever

counting how many Asian Americans there are.

Colleges have an obligation to work for diversity and equity because they play an integral

role in shaping the American public. We must give underrepresented and disadvantaged students

an additional chance to have a college education because this chance is so often disproportionally

taken away from them in society. Instituting colorblind admissions and doing away with

affirmative action would make us responsible for a growing inequality between races and people.
Race undoubtedly plays a major role in American society, and to turn away from affirmative

action is to pretend that the issues surrounding race do not exist. Colleges must acknowledge that

diversity exists and should work to reflect the same diversity that we see in society to their

campuses. A refusal to do so would deny the opportunity of education to those who perhaps need

it the most, and would increasingly marginalize those that are already disadvantaged.

Imagine being the only one of your gender or race on a college campus. How isolated

would you feel? Would you feel comfortable? Would your voice be heard? Is it fair for you to

work twice as hard just for the same recognition as everyone else? Affirmative action is an

attempt to reassure students that there will be a place for them in college and that they will not be

the only one who shares their identity.

Affirmative action opened the doors to people of color, women, and other minorities who

previously could never have dreamed of attending college. It has made college campuses more

diverse and a college education more enriching. A diverse environment means that people are

constantly learning, not just in the classroom but also from each other. Affirmative action is a

timely issue today not only because of its questions regarding race, but also because of the

divisiveness and polarization that we see among us. Now more than ever, it is important to

recognize the value of diversity and listening to each other. Affirmative action is not a perfect

system, and the fact that it is debated today proves that we are still testing how best to enact it.

But as long as inequalities exist in America, affirmative action must work to remedy them.