Justice Dept. to Take On Affirmative Action in College Admissions

[brooklynite]

Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is preparing to redirect resources of the Justice Department’s civil rights division toward investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants, according to a document obtained by The New York Times.

The document, an internal announcement to the civil rights division, seeks current lawyers interested in working for a new project on “investigations and possible litigation related to intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions.”

The announcement suggests that the project will be run out of the division’s front office, where the Trump administration’s political appointees work, rather than its Educational Opportunities Section, which is run by career civil servants and normally handles work involving schools and universities.

The document does not explicitly identify whom the Justice Department considers at risk of discrimination because of affirmative action admissions policies. But the phrasing it uses, “intentional race-based discrimination,” cuts to the heart of programs designed to bring more minorities to university campuses.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/us/politics/trump-affirmative-action-universities.html

[Honeycombe8]

1. I'm not so sure the govt makes colleges do aff. action. I think some colleges do that....

because they want diversity, based on their belief that diversity is necessary in a learning institution, because it adds to the viewpoints, the experience, the discussions. In so doing, they take race & ethnicity into account.

[LittleBlue]

2. The article is misleading

I recall reading an old study showing that if affirmative action was abolished, white enrollment would only go up .5%.

Asian-Americans were found to be much more affected, both in absolute numbers and per capita. I still have no idea why they must pay the price for historical discrimination and slavery, when they had nothing to do with either.

[pnwmom]

3. Why should admissions decisions made solely on test scores and GPAs?

The argument that Asian-Americans are much more affected is based on the fact that their test scores are higher. But shouldn't colleges also look at things like work experience, life experience, and other factors?

[LittleBlue]

10. It's the only standardized measure we have

Everything else is far more subjective. An applicant may argue that if he or she achieved a higher SAT score, they have put in more effort to learn and therefore deserve the spot.

[pnwmom]

15. A student may argue that, but that's because they aren't aware of the limitations of tests.

The problem with standardized tests is that they place an undue weight on the factors that CAN be easily tested. That doesn't mean easily-testable and quantifiable things are the only things that are important. It just means that tests are limited to items that they can measure.

For example, in my state we put more standardized tests in the schools, so the emphasis in schools shifted to match the tests. The tests didn't (and couldn't) test for speaking ability, so teachers reduced the amount of time kids spent debating and producing oral reports, so the teachers could spend more time teaching topics that were covered in the tests.

Does this make speaking ability any less important? Of course not. But it's an example of something that's very important in real life but isn't easily quantified and tested.

There are other qualities in life that are important to success that aren't measured in these tests. Thoughtful risk-taking. Creativity. Persistence. Resilience. Why are we only measuring verbal and math ability? Because they're easiest to measure -- not because they're the most important.

[More_Cowbell]

16. They also favor more affluent students

Who can afford to take test preparation classes and to take the tests over and over.

In addition, there are real questions about how well the tests predict college success.

[JI7]

5. We aren't paying a price. Asian Americans still go to college

And we learn things and recognize history and how things like civil rights helped us.

[LittleBlue]

11. Asian-Americans go to college but not nearly at the rate they would otherwise

Especially at the more prestigious schools. I wish I could recall the numbers, but basically it amounted to virtually the entire burden being borne by Asian-Americans alone.

Well, that's probably why Asian-Americans started a class-action lawsuit against Harvard.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/students-file-join-harvard-lawsuit-defend-race-conscious-admissions-n696361

It's strange that victims of historical discrimination, who were even put in internment camps and targeted with discriminatory laws, are now paying the greatest price.

[JI7]

12. So do something about people like kushner and bush.

Wealthy people who give millions for their idiot kids to go

[LittleBlue]

13. They really should

It's a disgrace that Bush got anywhere near Ivy League, then walks around saying "nucular"

How can he sound that dumb after 4 years of hanging around smart people and top class professors?

[SergeStorms]

18. Same for Donnie's son-in-law.

If daddy hadn't "donated" 2.5 million bucks to Harvard, does anyone think Jared would have matriculated on merit? No freaking chance!

Jared's high school administrators described his high school education as "less than stellar", and were quite miffed at Harvard for accepting him. So some deserving student, who'd probably need a scholarship to attend Harvard, was bypassed to make room for little Jared. Jared just HAD to go to the "right school" you see.

If THAT'S not white, moneyed affirmative action, I don't know what is. Will the Justice Department be looking into THAT as well?

[pnwmom]

17. That is true only if you think that verbal and math scores -- the things that are easily tested --

are the only things that are important to success.

I talked to a recruiter once for a large business, and he said that more and more he wasn't impressed with the types of students coming out of the Ivy League. They were extremely "book smart," with super high test scores, but he thought the graduates of state universities were better at risk-taking, creative work, and sales.

That was just his opinion, of course, but it makes sense to me. Life should be more than grades and test scores -- even in high school.

[JI7]

19. and the reason they want to change the policy is to help white kids. not asians .

[reflection]

4. "What the hell have you got to lose?" he said.

Evil. Pure evil.

[Mr.Bill]

6. California did this over 20 years ago.

When they passed Proposition 209. The % of Asians and Latinos went up. Blacks and Whites went down.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_209

[MountCleaners]

8. More pandering to the alt-right

The dictatorship is here....

[StevieM]

9. I wonder if they will take on legacy selections? (eom)

[TexasBushwhacker]

20. I don't see that going away

For the simple reason that legacy admissions bring money with them. They have to have some students paying full price to pay the bills.

[Judi Lynn]

14. US government threat to unwind affirmative action at universities

US government threat to unwind affirmative action at universities
Justice Department memo seeks lawyers to work on litigation related to ‘intentional race-based discrimination’ against white applicants, says report

Guardian staff and agencies
Wednesday 2 August 2017 00.19 EDT


The US Justice Department is planning to investigate and possibly sue universities over admissions policies that discriminate against white applicants, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing a department document.

The internal memo seeks lawyers in the department’s civil rights division who are interested in working on a new project on “investigations and possible litigation related to intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions”, the Times reported.

The document suggested the project would be run out of a part of the civil right division where its political appointees work, rather than the educational opportunities section, which is devoted to handling cases involving universities and is run by career civil servants, said the Times.

While the document does not explicitly identify whom the department considers at risk of discrimination, the Times suggested the use of the phrase “intentional race-based discrimination” signalled that programs designed to bring more minority students to university campuses were in the sights.

[TomCADem]

21. When the Going Gets Tough, Trump Stokes the White Resentment

Racism is not just a tool of oppressing minorties, but whites by giving them a scapegoat to blame while Trump robs them.