ipl-logo

Affirmative Action In College Admissions Essay

437 Words2 Pages

Affirmative action in college admissions is one of the most controversial topics in America today. Affirmative action was an idea created by President John F. Kennedy, but made an executive order by President Lyndon Johnson. It prohibited publicly funded companies from discriminating based on race, color, gender, national origin or religion. This includes public universities and colleges and marked a decisive change in the college admission process. This led to colleges using quotas to ensure a balance in diversity and credibility on college campuses.
Affirmative action is one of the obvious reasons why colleges consider race or ethnicity when making admissions decisions. Another reason is because a student’s college experience is enhanced through interactions with other students that come from different social, cultural and economic backgrounds. It also can help prepare students for their professor careers and life outside of school. But there is also a concern that colleges basing admissions on race may be passing up equally or more talented students for the sake of reaching a goal.
I believe that race or ethnicity should not be the determining factor for a college admission. The main reason this law was …show more content…

This law gives students in this situation an opportunity to attend colleges they wouldn’t be able to afford. Some might have to get a job during school to help pay for the bills, which in turn can affect their grades. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t good students, but instead shows that they are hardworking and responsible. In comparison to most white students who parents have enough money to support them and in turn gives them more time to focus on their studies for better grades. But this assumption isn’t always true because, not all Hispanics and African Americans are poor and whites

Show More
Related
776 Words | 4 Pages

Up and until this point in time, the court has generally ruled that promoting educational diversity is in fact a compelling state objective, but in today’s America, educational diversity has been established and is thriving. In this day and age, using race as a factor in college admissions is not needed. The Fourteenth amendment ensures the equal protection of the law to each and every citizen. We may not discriminate in order to promote

Read More
1060 Words | 5 Pages

This standard requires universities to demonstrate that the inclusion of race furthers a compelling governmental interest, and is narrowly tailored to achieve that interest. Of particular importance to the Court is whether “the means chosen ‘fit’ th[e] compelling goal so closely that there is little or no possibility that the motive for the classification was illegitimate racial prejudice or stereotype.” Put differently, universities must demonstrate that including race in the admissions process is necessary to enroll a diverse student body, and is accomplished through means that are reasonably calculated to achieve the educational benefits of

Read More
1802 Words | 8 Pages

As Ratana explained, “It is unconstitutional for any institution to employ a racial quota under the Equal Protection Clause. Also, state laws do not supersede the law of the land. Affirmative action just factors in race as one of the many criteria that institutions use in the consideration of who to admit into colleges and employ”. One of the main purposes of the Affirmative action policy was to create a more diverse community. However, some universities have argued by saying that the ban of the policy is so that they can ensure a diverse community.

Read More
480 Words | 2 Pages

This law also ensures diversity on campus, and on top of that affirmative action is still used for the remaining students that are not at the top 10% of their class (Hung). Evidently, race plays a crucial role in the admission decisions. Hung claims that race shouldn’t play such a big role in the admission process because it is considered discrimination. He supports this argument by comparing the average GPA and SAT scores of those students that were granted admission but were not in the top 10 percent of their class. African Americans had the lowest averaged scores, followed by Hispanics, then whites, and then Asian Americans.

Read More
758 Words | 4 Pages

While racial diversity is important to improve education by letting student explore other cultures and backgrounds, I claim that when it comes to treating people equally, you have to adopt a restricted list of requirements that would apply to everyone. Assuming that a person is more qualified than another one because he is black or Latino is morally wrong. This might create two problems. First, by adopting the affirmative action policy, you are treating the white people as the minority race which may suggest that white people are of an inferior race or the work and academic records of the white student is of a lesser value. Second, applicants who are benefiting from the race-based affirmative action would spend less time studying and get lower grades knowing that they will get points that will compensate for their missing work.

Read More
499 Words | 2 Pages

Affirmative action is a tool that is used to ensure that minority groups are granted equal opportunity. Whether it be college admissions, or in the workplace, affirmative action makes it possible for all people to enjoy the same opportunities despite skin color, gender, or nationality. Affirmative action was started by President John F. Kennedy. President Kennedy started affirmative action to make sure that during the hiring process, and also during employment, that all employees were treated the same, despite their race or nationality. Thereafter, President Lyndon B. Johnson followed up by making it a requirement for government to hire without counting race, religion, nationality, or gender against applicants.

Read More
845 Words | 4 Pages

“Affirmative Action may not be a perfect system, but there should be no doubt that it has endangered many successes. It has opened the doors of America’s most elite educational institutions to minority students, granting them unprecedented opportunities” (Ogletree 12). Thanks to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson a policy that prohibits employment and education discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, and sex is offered today to those who suffer from said discriminations (A Brief History). Affirmative action has opened abundant openings for minorities, allowing the cycle of going to college to be passed down generations and provided job opportunities that otherwise would not be considered by most. Affirmative

Read More
1013 Words | 5 Pages

The main precedent that has stuck with the court from Bakke to now Fisher is that a diverse student body is a compelling enough interest for a university to pursue. This goal is to be carried out in a narrowly tailored manner which the court has accepted as a race-conscious admissions program. The program is deemed constitutional on the basis that it only uses race as a plus factor in the admissions process. These programs, however, run in stark contrast to the provisions set forth in the Equal Protection Clause; in which the state is not allowed to treat individuals differently based on the category of race. The race-conscious admissions program albeit better than a pure quota system still uses race as a crucial factor.

Read More
744 Words | 3 Pages

The main character, Starr, in Angie Thomas’ book, The Hate U Give, develops and changes throughout the story. In the beginning of the book, Starr wants to stay quiet, fit in, and keep her lives separate from each other. Maturation and character growth is seen by the end of the book, where Starr finds her voice, is willing to stand out, and accepts that her dual lives can live harmoniously. Starr begins as a character who does not want to speak out.

Read More
459 Words | 2 Pages

Affirmative action should not hold as much weight as it does in schools. Colleges rather should base acceptance and scholarships on merit. This makes for a higher success rate without completely eliminating diversity in the classrooms. One reason colleges use affirmative action is to give minorities a better chance at receiving higher-level education.

Read More
656 Words | 3 Pages

In education some people believe that college exceptions should not be based on what ethnicity you are, but on what grades or family background you have. There can be many disadvantages in college admission becoming unfair or the “capping” of students being accepted because of their race. In 1978 Regents of University of California v. Bakke the Supreme Court ruled that a university's use of racial "quotas" in its admissions process was unconstitutional, but a school's use of "affirmative action" to accept more minority applicants was constitutional in some circumstances. People start to believe that this can become unfair to other ethnicities if there is “too much of one ethnicity” They believe it's unfair and wrong. If you get into

Read More
1011 Words | 5 Pages

Affirmative action has become obsolete in today’s society. Affirmative action is an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women; also: a similar effort to promote the rights or progress of other disadvantaged persons (Merriam-Webster, 2011). Today’s affirmative action will demoralize the very concepts that the policy was implemented to uphold: those of equality for all people regardless of color and discrimination. This policy supports racial multiplicity at the price of distinction, impartiality and experience; it also follows the line of reverse discrimination and sexual bias against white men (Reyna, Tucker, Korfmacher, & Henry, 2005).

Read More
764 Words | 4 Pages

People cannot choose their race when they are born, rather they have choice to work hard and excel in life. There should be standards on admission criteria based on academic achievements. It violates their right as an equal citizen of the country when they face discrimination based on race. Fourteenth Amendment protects the equal rights of the citizens and any discrimination towards them. It would not be fair to people to certain race not being admitted because of their skin color or ethnicity.

Read More
1409 Words | 6 Pages

Have you ever experienced anything that made you grow up faster than you should have? Have you ever been forced to do something that changed the way you live and think? Or you’ve even tried to hide something you strongly believed in because other people 's perspective on you might change? This happens a lot in today 's society, but it also happened to Marjane Satrapi. Marjane tells her story through her novel, Persepolis, and it helps show how things in the world can drastically change someone’s perspective.

Read More
1028 Words | 5 Pages

According to the dominant theory the affirmative action was firstly introduced to deal with two types of social disruption in the 1960s as campus protests and urban riots in the North. However, this article is based on different theory as dominant theory's empirical evidence is limited. It examines the initial reason for advent of race-conscious affirmative action in 17 undergraduate institutions in the United States. And according to the research this article concludes that there were two waves that contributed to affirmative action: 1) first wave in the early 1960s introduced by northern college administrators 2) second wave in the late 1960s introduced as a response to the protests of campus-based students. This article will help me to establish the main reasons for introduction of race-conscious affirmative action in undergraduate

Read More

More about Affirmative Action In College Admissions Essay

Related Topics

Open Document