Race-Based Affirmative Action Does Intended Beneficiaries No Good

Glenn Ricketts

So writes Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby in this piece today. Admitting poorly prepared minority students to demanding programs in the hard sciences or engineering at elite schools may make admissions officers or affirmative action supporters feel good about themselves, but it virtually sets such students up to fail; as Jacoby notes, the attrition rate is prohibitive. No wonder that the students given such “opportunity” often come away feeling isolated and embittered. The sad part is that they’d probably have better prospects of succeeding at second-tier state institutions. It’s among the many reasons that we continue to oppose group-based preferences of any kind, as I wrote here last week. Jacoby also cites the stellar, tireless work of NAS board member Gail Heriot, a law professor at the University of San Diego, who has marshalled compelling arguments and data demonstrating the consistently bad results of race-based affirmative action policies. Compelling, that is, for everyone except the admissions officers at elite universities who continue to claim resounding success for their “diversity” policies.

  • Share

Most Commented

September 6, 2024

1.

Professor Alleges "Widespread" Discriminatory Hiring Coverup at University of Washington

Audio acquired by the National Association of Scholars describes allegations of coverup race-based hiring coverup at the University of Washington...

October 29, 2024

2.

The Looming Irrelevance of Middle East Study Centers

Today’s Middle Eastern Studies Centers are facing a crisis due to the winds of change in the Middle East and their own ideological echo chamber....

September 25, 2024

3.

NAS Statement on University of Pennsylvania Sanction of Amy Wax

The National Association of Scholars is outraged—but not surprised—by Penn's decision to penalize Wax for exercising her academic freedom. ...

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

September 21, 2010

3.

Ask a Scholar: What Does YHWH Elohim Mean?

A reader asks, "If Elohim refers to multiple 'gods,' then Yhwh Elohim really means Lord of Gods...the one of many, right?" A Hebrew expert answers....