schroeder wrote:
velocomp wrote:
schroeder wrote:
velocomp wrote:
schroeder wrote:
gphin305 wrote:
patentattorney wrote:
to be fair, it is a pretty traditional American value to try to hold down minorities in the name of equality.I disagree, depending on how far back you want to go. Sure, prior to the 1960s, absolutely. But since Affirmative Action, which you might be able to consider an 'american tradition" for the past almost 50 years, I feel there has been more than 'equal opportunity" for "everyone".....and it's actually going past the point now of the original objective.
Are you saying that everyone had equal opportunities beginning in the '64 with the civil rights act? Hopefully not. For example, redlining didn't end until the 90's. There have been numerous studies comparing equal resumes of black versus white or male versus female job candidates and the white male has a greater advantage. Diversity did not become a common buzzword on college campuses until the mid 90's but, don't worry, because believe it or not there are still plenty of white conservative males attending college. When was the last time you walked on a college campus? Can you honestly say that you'd have a better or equal chance as a minority job candidate, than a white candidate?
https://hbr.org/...declined-in-25-years
Can you honestly say that you think that if someone is a better candidate that they should be discriminated against because they are not a minority?
Take this for instance. My wife works with many HS kids on SAT/ACT testing. We recently learned that a student on GreenCard from the UK (been here for 3 years, going on 4 for high school), has to pay international rates to go to college in Colorado, while an illegal alien gets in-state tuition. In other words, following the rules hurts you. What about was it Harvard that was sued by some Asian student who were denied entry because they said the already had enough Asians. It's not just a white thing. In many cases it should be the best candidate period.
You are right that Universities have a desire to be more diverse and this has influenced who they select as students. My response to gphin was about job place discrimination and his implication that everything has been fair since the 60's. But if you look at the link I posted, a white job applicant has a 50% greater chance to receive a call back than a black applicant and this has been constant for 25 years. Is this the way it should be? Would having more diverse campuses help change it?
A couple of the highly rated colleges ($$$) around me also accept and give a few scholarships to underprivileged students from the local area. Is this also wrong when they are likely bumping students from better school districts with better SAT's?
Yes, it is wrong. If you are going to base entry into your school on a competitive criteria, you don't say, "these people that won don't get their medal. Instead we'll give their medal that they worked for to someone who we think probably hasn't ever gotten a medal so they can feel better and we can feel better". If I'm a student that meets the criteria but then gets shafted for someone who doesn't meet the criteria, I'd be resentful and pissed off.
Why should you have any say in their process? It's literally none of your business. Some of the spots are not based on the same competitive criteria. They are giving scholarships to underprivileged students in their area because they want to help improve their own community which in turn will benefit the colleges. It's called being a part of society and it's their decision to lose money because of this charity. You want control over how they support their local community? Should they have control over your charity? How do you feel about athletes getting preferential treatment?
I should have a say because they are often public universities getting public funds. And you act like without this society will fail. That is false. There are many educational opportunities that people with lower grades or test scores can attend. I didn't get great grades in HS, but still went and got 2 degrees and consider myself successful. And as for Athletes, they have a different competitive entry program. But of course they don't hold out a few spots for bad athletes to make sure everyone is represented.
And to address your final point. As far as I know there is not a requirement to be a minority or under achiever from the local neighborhood.