December 2009

Group Representation v. Individual Competence

December 15, 2009

The post’s title is a concise and apt description of the skin deep-only diversity obsession. George Leef, director of research for the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, responds to an article on diversity in The Chronicle of Higher Education, particularly academia’s obsession with it. Widespread in the humanities and social sciences, diversity [...]

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Ward Connerly on the UC System

December 9, 2009

As you probably read, the University of California system (UC) raised fees by 32 percent for fall 2010 admissions. The American Civil Rights Institute‘s Ward Connerly, a former UC regent, says he voted against proposals to raise fees for students during his tenure. “But with each vote I realized that UC was slowly moving toward [...]

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‘Talented 20′ Low Graduation Rates

December 8, 2009

The One Florida Initiative, a reaction to Ward Connerly’s campaign to end government racial preferences in the state, was an executive order issued by former Governor Jeb Bush barring race-based preferences in government hiring, contracting, and admissions. “Although generally sympathetic to Connerly’s campaign, Bush worried that Connerly’s constitutional proposal would sharply divide Floridians, create substantial [...]

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Black Firefighters Seek to Block New Haven Promotions

December 8, 2009

Last month, a black firefighter in New Haven named Michael Briscoe decided to sue city hall, claiming the promotions exam had a disparate impact on blacks. No blacks scored high enough to qualify. He contended that giving more weight to the written part of the test over the oral was a disadvantage to blacks. The [...]

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Frank Ricci Gets Promoted

December 3, 2009

When the dyslexic firefighter scored well enough on an exam to qualify for promotion to lieutenant, he probably never thought it would take six years. Today, Frank Ricci is vindicated. He, along with 13 other firefighters, have been promoted. A dozen white firefighters and one Hispanic in New Haven scored high enough on a promotions [...]

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Diversity as Admission Requirement

December 2, 2009

Glenn Ricketts and Peter Wood, author of Diversity: The Invention of a Concept, address a topic I’ve written about: colleges considering noncognitive factors in the application process for purposes of diversity. Their focus, however, is on commitment to diversity as a requirement for admission. Ricketts and Wood quote in “Diversi-Oaths: Creedal Admissions in the American [...]

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