If preferences for black and Hispanic applicants are abolished, expect a backlash against admissions boosts for children of alumni and donors.
Perpetually in jeopardy, the use of racial preferences in college admissions is under greater threat than ever.
President Donald Trump has scrapped Obama-era guidelines that
encouraged universities to consider race as a factor. He has proposed
replacing Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion in a
2016 case upholding affirmative action by one vote, with the more
conservative Brett Kavanaugh. Meanwhile, a lawsuit challenging Harvard’s
preferences for Hispanics and African Americans has uncovered the
university’s dubious pattern of rejecting academically outstanding
Asian-American candidates — who don’t qualify for a race-related boost —
by giving them low marks for personality. Either the Harvard case, or a
similar lawsuit against the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, could put an end to affirmative action.
If it is abolished, though, there will undoubtedly be increased
pressure to also eliminate admissions criteria that favor a very
different demographic — children of alumni and donors. Colleges are
reluctant to drop these preferences of privilege for fear of hurting
fundraising. But the political price of clinging to them could be
significant.
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Source: ProPublica
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