Affirmative Action In College Admissions

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An opinion article addressing the implementation of affirmative action in college admissions to college students in Austin.The site gears its content towards Austin-related news. Thus, Austin Chronicle serves as a reasonable reference site for readers interested in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin which serves as a vital Supreme Court case in determining the fate of affirmative action. Affirmative Action in Educational Institutions While potential college students fill out several components within their applications, a majority of the applicants will face the question regarding their racial background. Most educational institutions often strive for blind admissions in order to establish a fair picking process. However, affirmative …show more content…

For example, National Review writer Victor Davis Hanson states that applicants should be evaluated based on the “content of their characters” because it’s the “simplest” and “only moral standard.” Though meritable qualities are indeed a crucial yet unbiased factor to evaluate during admissions, the suggestion isn’t as simple as critics make it out to be. Adam Johnson, writer for Stanford Daily, declares that he “objects” to the idea that race “is not a factor in academic achievement” due to its “significant role in questions of access.” In other words, Johnson protests that because racial backgrounds impact the type of access a student is offered in education, race impacts the meritable qualities of a prospective student. Thus, race is just as valid as merit is as a component within college applications. In short, the debate regarding whether or not colleges should resort to merit-based admissions as a solution to the controversy surrounding affirmative action remains on the …show more content…

He mentions that he witnesses “only children of color” encounter situations such as being “stopped and frisked” or “not hailing a taxi when the subway was down.” In other words, the prolonged existence of social and financial gaps between people of color and whites has created unfair educational disadvantages for

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