In one month, the Supreme Court will decide Fisher v. University of Texas, a case that has the potential to dramatically alter the college admissions process. In 2008, Abigail Fisher was denied admission to the University of Texas at Austin. She now argues that her rejection in favor of less qualified minority applicants violates her Fourteenth Amendment rights. The University of Texas appealed to precedent: in 2003, the Supreme Court deemed that racial profiling of applicants in university admissions was permissible in the name of pursuing diversity. However, that decision may soon be overturned. Even if the Supreme Court does not overturn its past ruling, the underlying question still remains: to what extent should race and ethnicity be considered in college admissions, if at all?
Race and ethnicity play large roles in college admissions. After all, the modern college admissions process, requiring essays and alumni interviews, was purposefully conceived to enable colleges to identify and discriminate against Jewish applicants in the early 20th century. It is often argued that these same devices are used today to systematically discriminate against Asians. Both ethnicities wound up with the short end of the stick, regardless of their above-average test scores which is why some people have labeled Asian-Americans "the new Jews." Conversely, other minorities are helped by positive discrimination, with college admissions giving preference to applicants of certain race or ethnicity. The implication is that applicants are not judged by their merits but by their heritage, for better or for worse.
In the past, most universities have justified this racial discrimination and affirmative action by emphasizing the need to create a diverse student body. It has been argued that greater diversity improves the quality of education, and empirical evidence has shown that greater diversity is correlated with higher post-graduation earnings. But while the pursuit of diversity is admirable and provides clear benefits, the means of that pursuit should be open to criticism. Using race and ethnicity as an underlying categorization of applicants easily lends itself to a systematic, prejudiced review of applicants, far from the holistic review that so many colleges claim to uphold.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to prove claims of racial discrimination at an individual level, as admissions processes are largely subjective and secretive in nature. Nonetheless, it is common knowledge that racial disqualification is a widespread and commanding force in aggregate. Some empirical research has shown that Asian applicants are generally held to higher academic standards. Under the current admissions process, two racially different applicants from similar socioeconomic and academic backgrounds will be evaluated differently, even when all of their qualifications are identical.
Does a difference in appearance directly indicate different and unique ways of thinking? Probably not. I would argue that two individuals from the same socioeconomic background are much more similar than their racial differences may suggest. To achieve a truly diverse student body, admission preferences should instead be given to applicants who strive to succeed in the face of socioeconomic disparity. This sort of inclusiveness lends itself to both cultural and socioeconomic diversity and to social mobility, while upholding racial and ethnic equality.
Some have argued that the sudden exclusion of racial and ethnic categorization may result in a harmful demographic redistribution of college students. When the University of California was forced to stop using affirmative action, this initially led to a large increase in the number of Asian students and a decline in the number of other minority students. However, as of late, the numbers have shown the reverse: under this meritocracy, all minority groups have seen increased enrollment. It is clear that meritocracy actually benefits the pursuit of racial and ethnic diversity and equality. A meritocracy evaluates character, not color.
Race and ethnicity should not be blanketing characteristics in college admissions. To foster diversity, admission preferences should only be given in cases of socioeconomic disparity; race itself should never differentiate applicants. The current evidence suggests that there is injustice within the system, but a correction to this may come as soon as June.
