http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/us/supreme-court-to-hear-case-on-affirmative-action.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=todayspaper
Race has always been a big part of college applications. If you go to websites where you can enter your GPA, SAT scores and your race to see what percent chance you have of getting into a college, you will notice that race plays a big part. Someone could have the same information you have, but be a different race and have a higher or lower percent chance of getting into a college than you do. I think it is unfair that other students are given opportunities based heavily on their race. Although, I see where the college's are coming from. In order to have a well functioning college, you need diverse students. As Mr.Eloy said, it makes for more interesting class conversations because there are so many different perspectives that are based off of different backgrounds. I think that Ms. Fisher makes a great point, that students shouldn't be judge, for better or worse, because of their race. Most parents will always tell their kids to do well in school, and even if they have done this, some are still turned down from colleges because of their race. The minority will always have an upper hand on the majority. This is kind of like ethnocentrism because college admissions feel that the more diverse someone is the better they are. Ms. Fisher says that she thinks there should not be a race box in a college application, but I don't fully agree with this. While, it may beneficial for students who are applying to colleges, it will not be beneficial to them in the long run. This is because, if colleges are not diverse then students will not get the chance to learn from someone who is different from them.
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This article was really interesting. We have talked about this topic a few times in class. I felt bad for Fisher in this because she did not get into her dream college, but I also understand where the colleges are coming from. They want to have a diverse school.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting that the Constitution says that the government cannot sort people by race. That is what colleges are doing. So it is really hard to pick a side on this argument because you understand where Abagail Fisher is coming from. She lost the chance to go to the school she loved because of her race. Also, you understand where the colleges are coming from, they want to have a diverse school to have different peoples perspectives. I feel like colleges should pick their students because they will fit into that school, not because of their race. But colleges need to be diverse. So, it is hard to pick a side of the argument.
I think that this article is so interesting. I've always been told by people that when I apply to college I'll have an advantage due to the color of my skin. Whenever people say this I wish that I wasn't Hispanic but instead just white. Kids get small scholarships to colleges due to the color of their skin or in Fishers case they can get rejected. The idea of giving people money to go to their school so that it can become more diverse is so racist within itself that I sometimes just get so upset about it. I don't want a school to accept me because of the color of my skin, I want to get in because I worked my butt off in my academics to prove to them that I belong there.
ReplyDeleteI think that what happened to Fisher is unfair and the fact that she is going to the Supreme Court with this issue on rejecting or accepting students based on their race is amazing. I think that her actions will help people understand this problem that colleges and students deal with that sometimes is hidden. Considering how many kids attend college and how many colleges there are this is definitely a problem worth discussing and if I had been in this situation I would have take action just as Fisher did.
I definitely agree with your point about how the race box on college applications benefits not only the college but also the students attending it. In the article it says that many of the high schools in Texas are segregated so they feel that it's important to have a diverse college atmosphere. If there isn't a diverse atmosphere for the students they won't be able to interact with kids from different cultures and learn from them. An example of this would be how during a discussion in a seminar the many different voices and perspectives creates a very interesting discussion and helps the kids see other people's points of views.
Overall though, it is rather difficult to take a certain side to this argument. I'm in the middle, where everyone makes a compromise to make each other happy. I think that colleges should not accept or reject a student only based on their race but at the same time colleges need to be diverse. Just a thought here but what if colleges are to take away the race box from their applications and a specific race happens to be the majority of the people that get accepted. Couldn't someone just make an argument that that school is being racist against others due to the fact that the majority of the people are one race. Although this is unlikely to happen, it's not impossible.
Fantastic discussion here! Great job!
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