Affirmative Action: Giving Preferential Admissions to Minority Students

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Should universities eliminate affirmative action polices that give preferential treatment in admissions to minority status?

“Anyone interested in higher education should want to contemplate, on behalf of colleges and universities, students and faculty, alumni and paying parents, the fate of affirmative action(Chace, M William 20). The Oxford Dictionary states Affirmative Action is “an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education; positive discrimination.” In 1961, John F. Kennedy signed an Executive Order calling for “affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” This is now known today as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission(EEOC). Affirmative action policies would later be forced upon businesses and have also been instituted at many universities where minorities are given preferred admissions over non-minorities. An Example of this would be at the University of Michigan where applicants who represented racial or ethnic minorities were given 20 points towards admission out of a 150 point system where only 100 points were needed to gain admission. Trying to put the 20 points in perspective, applicants with perfect SAT scores only received 12 points toward admission. This system was later struck down by the Supreme Court, but another similar policy was upheld at the University of Michigan Law School. With how diverse our society is currently compared to years ago, it seems to compliment that the policies have indeed worked. But now, the policies are questioned by many as whether or not they moral, constitutional, and/or...

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...s Cited

Charles, Camille Z., et al. "Affirmative-Action Programs for Minority Students: Right in Theory, Wrong in Practice." The Chronicle of Higher Education 55.29 (2009). Academic OneFile. Web. 9 Aug. 2011.

Selingo, Jeffrey. "New Study Questions Educational Benefits of Diversity." The Chronicle of Higher Education 49.29 (2003). Academic OneFile. Web. 9 Aug. 2011.

Connerly, Ward. "My Fight Against Race Preferences: A Quest Toward `Creating Equal'." Chronicle of Higher Education 46.27 (2000): B6. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Aug. 2011.

Chace, William M. "Affirmative Inaction: Opposition to affirmative action has drastically reduced minority enrollment at public universities; private institutions have the power and the responsibility to reverse the trend." American Scholar 80.1 (2011): 20-31. History Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 18 Aug. 2011.

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