Stephan Thernstrom, co-author of No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning, writes about the University of California’s new admissions policy at National Review Online.
Among other things, the UC Board of Regents voted to eliminate the requirement for applicants to take two SAT subject tests. Effective 2012, applicants with a GPA of 3.0 or higher who’ve completed at least 11 of 15 required college prep courses by their junior year and taken the ACT with Writing or SAT Reasoning exam will be considered for admission. More students will be open to “comprehensive review.”
Thernstrom writes about what may not be an unintended or even an unanticipated consequence of the new policy. Although the change is intended to increase black and Hispanic enrollment, the prime beneficiaries will be whites, “whose share of total enrollments is predicted to rise by 20–30 percent.” Asian students, who will see a reduction in enrollment of up to 20 percent, will be affected the most.
“The net effect will thus be to make the University of California substantially ‘whiter’ than it has been,” Thernstrom writes.
Apparently, there aren’t enough blacks competitive with whites to go around, so in order to reach an arbitrary skin color goal, businesses and the government tend to lower hiring and admissions standards for blacks. Lowering standards for all would be impractical, not to mention detrimental. Generally speaking, Asians tend to be high achievers academically; therefore, they’re what I call a non-preferred minority. No bar-lowering for them.
As Thernstrom notes, Asians are 12 percent of California’s population but accounted for 37 percent of UC admissions last year. He adds:
“It’s hard to believe that, as part of this mission, the regents are deliberately trying to do their bit to stave off the ‘yellow peril.’ But proponents of racial preferences have let slip some highly unsavory attitudes on occasion. My wife, Abigail, appeared on Crossfire many years ago and was asked by liberal co-host Bob Beckel whether she would ‘like to see UCLA Law School 80 percent Asian.’ In a 1995 interview, President Clinton said that ‘there are universities in California that could fill their entire freshman classes with nothing but Asian Americans.’ In 1998, a writer for Newsday asked, ‘Since Asians outscore everyone, would we accept an all-Asian class?’”
I’m eager to know what Asian groups have to say about UC’s new admissions policy.
(Hat tip: Discriminations)
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