Let colleges, universities use their best judgment on admissions
By Michael S. McPherson
Editorial
The Minneapolis Star Tribune
Published Jan. 17, 2003
This week the president and the attorney general weighed in on the side of the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court's consideration of the University of Michigan case concerning affirmative action. It is my view that responsible affirmative action policies in college admission have served our nation, our state and Macalester College in particular very well. I urge our leaders in Washington to support the University of Michigan in its defense of affirmative action before the Supreme Court.
At stake here is the ability of America's colleges and universities to exercise their own autonomous judgment in selecting students for admission to their institutions. At Macalester, we certainly consider high school academic performance and grades on standardized tests like the SAT, but we also consider a wide range of other factors, ranging from geographical origins to personal and academic interests, artistic commitments and accomplishments, intellectual engagements and perspectives, and others.
We use racial background as one factor among many in building a class who will be able to learn from and teach one another. We don't view admission to Macalester as analogous to winning a contest, where the "prize" goes to the highest scorer, but rather as an opportunity to join in and contribute to a learning community. We believe that enrolling a class that is diverse in many ways -- geographical, intellectual, socioeconomic, as well as racial -- helps us to create the best class we can. We see large educational benefits in shaping a student body at Macalester that reflects the rich and growing racial and cultural diversity of our society. By educating our students on a diverse campus, we are better preparing them as citizens and workers.
Denying us the opportunity to exercise our best judgment on these various dimensions is, in our view, both an inappropriate use of federal power and a step backward for American society.
-- Michael S. McPherson is president of Macalester College in St. Paul.
startribune.com |
