Slight disagreement of note:
Undertaken with sincerity, such outreach efforts — contrary to what many may believe — represent affirmative action at its best. Going into communities that have sent few sons and daughters to A&M and where there is no Aggie tradition in previous generations promotes the image of A&M as an inviting place for students of all backgrounds. Offering financial aid demonstrates commitment.
"Undertaken with sincerity" is the operative phrase. But that's not the disagreement.
Right now we have this passle of programs we call "Affirmative Action." But few of them are actually actions the represent an affirmative committment to revesrsing the effects of past racism and discrimination. Sincere outreach and actually addressing those issues that cause unequal access to education and jobs isn't affirmative action at its best…they're the only action that can actually be called "affirmative."
And since I'm in "piss people off" mode, I would like to point out that affirmative action programs were implemented to offset an apparent inability to hire and educate even handedly. They are programs to address shortcomings in the MAINSTREAM, no in minorities, and by flipping the blame for the failure of the rather surface level techniques that were easiest to implement (sit a spook by the door...) on minorities you render the problems unsolvable.
Anyway...
GOOD GOING, A&M
If diversity improves, it won't matter how they did it
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
Officials at Texas A&M University say they are proud that the number of blacks and Hispanics who say they will enroll this fall has increased dramatically from the year before. The increase shows what can be done in a short time to make a campus more attractive to bright minority applicants who previously tended to shun it.
University administrators reported last week that, compared with last spring, the number of successful black and Hispanic applicants confirming plans to enroll as freshmen is up 57 percent and 24 percent, respectively. This could mean the reverse of a seven-year decline in minority enrollment that resulted when many minority students offered admission declined to attend a school they perceived as hostile to minorities.
More diversity among A&M's overwhelmingly white student body is good news — especially in light of A&M's controversial decision not to consider applicants' race in the admissions process. At the time, A&M President Robert Gates announced that A&M would try to entice more minority students to College Station by visiting more predominantly black and Hispanic high schools and providing more scholarships for students from low-income families.
Undertaken with sincerity, such outreach efforts — contrary to what many may believe — represent affirmative action at its best. Going into communities that have sent few sons and daughters to A&M and where there is no Aggie tradition in previous generations promotes the image of A&M as an inviting place for students of all backgrounds. Offering financial aid demonstrates commitment.
The real proof of A&M's accomplishment will be borne out in how many minority students actually show up to register for fall classes. It is in the best interest of everyone who cares about this state's economy for more of Texas' promising young minorities to receive the sort of high-quality education that top-notch, in-state schools like A&M offer.
If previous A&M administrators had done more to promote a diverse student body, A&M might not find itself in the awkward position of having to defend why the A&M University System will be considering race in 2006 admissions to its Health Science Center, including its medical and dental schools, to increase minority enrollment. Welcoming more minority students to A&M as freshmen would have created a larger applicant pool for its graduate schools.
But Gates is correct in his defense of the seemingly contradictory policies: "We all have the same goal, and that is to increase diversity," he said. "What matters are results ... ."
Posted by P6 at June 11, 2004 09:28 AM
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Comments
That many soldiers go there, and a majority of our armed forces are of minority background, and they have a neglible comparative enrollment?
Still a long way to go in things for a fairness doctrine to be realized.
Posted by Mr.Murder at June 13, 2004 01:13 PM