Letter to the Editor reprinted from The Daily Cardinal, September 5, 2001Should UW-Madison be permitted to continue using race/ethnicity in evaluating applicants for admission? That question confronts the Board of Regents at this week’s meeting.
The campus position is laid out in a Regent-requested report prepared by Admissions Director Rob Seltzer. There, Seltzer defends using race/ethnicity in making admissions decisions. Why? He claims that greater race/ethnic diversity provides educational benefits for all students, makes UW graduates more employable, and is okay because race/ethnicity is only one among many factors determining who is or is not admitted.
Seltzer’s conventional defense of race/ethnic preferences is riddled with weaknesses. The amorphous benefits of diversity on this campus have not been documented. Employers continue to hire UW-Madison graduates despite our “too low” minority enrollment figures.
More important, minority preferences are not okay. Applying them brings to campus students whose prospects of succeeding are far below those of the average student. Minority preferences are not fair because they treat people based on their skin color or ethnic background rather than as individuals. Finally, race/ethnic preferences in UW admission are explicitly prohibited by state law (Wis. Stats. 36.12).
The Board of Regents needs to learn more about how the admissions process works if it is to make an informed decision about continuing or abandoning race/ethnic preferences in admission. The Seltzer report is a start but only that.
Let us hope Board members have the courage and persistence to find out what has been so long hidden from public scrutiny.
Regents Need to Study Race-Based Admissions
Letter to the Editor reprinted from The Daily Cardinal, September 5, 2001Should UW-Madison be permitted to continue using race/ethnicity in evaluating applicants for admission? That question confronts the Board of Regents at this week’s meeting.
The campus position is laid out in a Regent-requested report prepared by Admissions Director Rob Seltzer. There, Seltzer defends using race/ethnicity in making admissions decisions. Why? He claims that greater race/ethnic diversity provides educational benefits for all students, makes UW graduates more employable, and is okay because race/ethnicity is only one among many factors determining who is or is not admitted.
Seltzer’s conventional defense of race/ethnic preferences is riddled with weaknesses. The amorphous benefits of diversity on this campus have not been documented. Employers continue to hire UW-Madison graduates despite our “too low” minority enrollment figures.
More important, minority preferences are not okay. Applying them brings to campus students whose prospects of succeeding are far below those of the average student. Minority preferences are not fair because they treat people based on their skin color or ethnic background rather than as individuals. Finally, race/ethnic preferences in UW admission are explicitly prohibited by state law (Wis. Stats. 36.12).
The Board of Regents needs to learn more about how the admissions process works if it is to make an informed decision about continuing or abandoning race/ethnic preferences in admission. The Seltzer report is a start but only that.
Let us hope Board members have the courage and persistence to find out what has been so long hidden from public scrutiny.