Race and College Admissions

Introduction
This paper aims to appraise the document submitted to the United States Supreme Court by the American Sociological Association (ASA) on a Michigan Law School case. This paper presents a summary of the argument maintained by the ASA. This paper further presents an argument on race's relevance by college admissions officers in deciding whom to accept into a college.
Ethnic and racial diversity in the student body is considered a valuable educational experience in American higher education. This diversity is also regarded as a means of rectifying the problems caused by the unfair discrimination exhibited against certain groups of people. Due to the low representation of racial and ethnic minority groups in many institutions' student bodies, some admission policies have made allowances for racial preference to be used as an admission criterion to encourage more minority students' admission. But using racial or ethnic preference as an admission criterion to benefit a group of people at the expense of others raises the issue of unlawful "reverse" discrimination. The defining characteristic of an admission policy is the consideration of academic ability, along with an evaluation of the applicant's talents, experiences, and the potential to contribute to others' learning. An admission policy requests an applicant's evaluation based on all relevant information submitted in the application file. In considering an applicant for admission, admissions officials will examine the applicant's undergraduate grade point average and, for law school, a Law School Admissions Test result. These results though imperfect, are a significant predictor of academic success (Uerling, 2004).
Admission policies regulate the admission process by stating that only applicants expected to excel in the school should be admitted. The policy might also set other educational objectives beyond grade point averages and test scores by which applicants will be adjudged. Other factors are further used to decide by the admissions officials, factors such as the persons recommending the applicant to the institution, the quality of the undergraduate institution from which the applicant graduated, the quality of the applicant's essay, and the applicant's undergraduate course selection are all considered in determining if the applicant will contribute in some meaningful way to the institution (Uerling, 2004).
Facts of the case
In 1977, Barbara Grutter, a Caucasian resident of Michigan, applied for admission to the University of Michigan Law School with a 3.8 undergraduate GPA and 161 LSAT score, but she was denied admission. The school admitted that she had not received the admission due to racial reasons. The school uses racial preference as an admission criterion to achieve diversity among the student body. The district court, which presided over the court case that arose due to this issue, ruled that the law school's interest in achieving racial diversity among the student body was not a compelling factor to be used during the admission process and enjoined the school's use of race in the admissions process. At the Court of Appeals to which the case was appealed, the court held that the opinion of Justice Powell on the establishment of racial diversity as a compelling governmental interest in Regents of the University of California vs. Valle,438 U.S. 265 (1978) constitutes a binding precedent to justify the use of racial preference as an admission criterion (Oyez, 2003).
Summary and key elements of the document presented by the ASA to the United States Supreme Court
In early September of the year 2002, the ASA developed an amicus brief on the Council's authority in response to a member resolution approved at the ASA's business meeting that same year. The brief contained a summary of sociological research, which discusses the need to consider race as an admission criterion for college admissions. The brief supported the Michigan Law School and the Student Interveners (minority students who by court permission served as co-defendants) in the Grutter case. The brief contents also apply to the undergraduate admissions to the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts in the Gratz case (Bielby, 2003).
The ASA's brief contained a summary of social science research with which it was argued that race defines the life experience of a person of color in the United States. The study explains how race influences the school experience of members of minority groups such as African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and others. The race of these people has profound effects throughout childhood and even adulthood. Thus, based on the importance of race to people's lives, the ASA brief states that race is a valid part of life experience. The brief concludes that the exclusion of race from admission criteria will deny admissions officers the opportunity to put the applicant's life experience into context to better measure academic ability. The brief explains that the consideration of race as an admission criterion is tailored to provide fairer opportunities. This contrasts with admission plans, which guarantee admission to the top 10 percent of high school graduates treating all applicants who fall into the category identically without considering life experiences. This admission plan has been proven ineffective in Martha Tienda and her colleagues' research as these plans regress racial and ethnic diversity (Bielby, 2003).
Council approved the brief of the ASA at the February 2003 meeting of the association. Other signatories to the ASA brief are the Association of Black Sociologists, the Law and Society Association, the American Psychology Association, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, and the Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS). Separate briefs on the case were submitted by the American Psychological Association and the American Educational Research Association. It is anticipated that the case will receive more amicus brief submissions making the Michigan case the case with the most amicus briefs of all cases submitted before the Supreme Court (Bielby, 2003).
Argument
Several supporters for the inclusion of race as an admission criterion in college admissions state the benefits of inclusion as an increase in the student body's diversity in the colleges and an advantage for students who need one. Another benefit is preparing students for career life after school by relating to a diverse student body. The opposing side of the argument reason that if universities focus on admitting based on race to meet a population goal, equally or more talented students will be passed up to favor others. This argument has existed for a long time, with both parties on either side of the argument raising valid concerns. And a decision favoring one side will eventually arise as either side of the argument keeps asking the question (Klosowski, 2010).
My personal opinion is that race should be a factor and other life experiences in college admissions. Universities worldwide attempt to ensure each racial minority's adequate representation by admitting a "racial quota" to create a balance. Some schools encourage diversity to enrich the learning environment. This is particularly true in many schools in the South and Midwest who consider geography an admission criterion to introduce greater diversity into the student population. This creates a higher acceptance rate of students from the North and East, which have established student populations rife with diversity, both racial and ethnic. The extant racial diversity in the Californian population reduced the consideration of race as a deciding factor in Californian schools admissions, even though state schools still do so. But this decision to not consider race has created a lack of representation for African-Americans and Latinos in the state university system even though California boasts a very racially diverse population (Sayo & Choi, 2016).
There is much more to be gained beyond academic knowledge from a college or university experience enriched by racial and ethnic diversity. Students will learn a lot more about the world and the people living in it by relating to others from starkly different backgrounds. This will encourage growth in students in an environment that enhances identity growth and advocates the shedding of the stereotype of privilege. A mix of racially diverse individuals will engender the formation of bonds that will transcend race or class, reducing societal division and effecting social change (Hansen, 2015).
Implementation in Actual Applied Setting
A qualitative study on institutions with the highest rate of students of color enrolment can help identify the best admissions policies for increasing the representation of students of color in American higher institutions while also providing a means of informing future policies. Policies can be implemented which combine outreach, recruitment, and retention programs to increase student diversity. An example of such a policy is the partnering of graduate and professional schools with institutions that serve a high percentage of students of color (such as historically black schools, community colleges, and Hispanic Serving Institutions) and offering racially-targeted scholarships and mentoring programs to interest minority students in pursuing a graduate or professional degree. For institutions in which race-conscious practices are legally permissible, any of these strategies can be implemented to satisfy any legal scrutiny (Graces, 2009).
Another method of increasing student body diversity beyond setting racial preference as an admission criterion is, offering programs such as racially-targeted scholarships and minority -based learning communities. These programs eliminate the need for population quotas and, as such, any need for legal arguments on the matter. Scholarship programs for which only a select group of eligible people are not constitutionally impermissible and do not employ a quota system. However, a learning community for which an admission criterion is a racial heritage may not be constitutionally acceptable. This would create a quota system that will hinder other racial groups from joining the learning community. But advocates of such programs can provide an acceptable reason for such a learning community. An argument can be brought up that minority students excel in academic programs tailored to attend to their specific learning needs (Uerling, 2004).
Conclusion
This paper supports the argument of race being a considering factor in the college admissions process. The argument which supports this claim is based on increasing diversity in the educational system and allowing students to grow in other ways beyond academically by creating new world views from new interactions. The promotion of fairness and equality has also supported this claim as life experiences are taken into account. While this paper supports the consideration of race as a qualifying factor for college admissions, this paper also advocates considering a student's assets to determine admissions eligibility. Applying these two factors will encourage universities worldwide to revise how applications are considered to allow racial quotas.
References
Bielby, W. T. (2003). ASA submits Amicus brief in U.S. supreme court case on affirmative action in college admissions. Retrieved from https://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/savvy/footnotes/mar03/indexone.html
Garces, L. M. (2009). The impact of allowing the consideration of race in admissions policies on the representation of students of color at Texas professional and graduate schools. Retrieved from https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/btl/files/liliana_garces_-_qp_1-27-09.pdf
Hanssen, C. (2015). Should race be a factor in college admissions? Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/24/opinion/should-race-be-a-factor-in-college-admissions.html
Klosowski, T. (2010). Should race still be a factor in college admissions? Retrieved from https://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/college-planning/admissions/race-college-admissions2.htm
Oyez. (2003). Grutter v. Bollinger. Retrieved from https://www.oyez.org/cases/2002/02-241
Sayo, K., & Choi, E. (2016). How race plays a role in college admissions. The Mirror, Van Nuys High School, 6. Retrieved from http://studentpress.org/nspa/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/09/121516-p06.pdf
Uerling, D. (2004). Racial and ethnic preferences in college admissions: how much is too much? Journal of Women in Educational Leadership, 110. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1116&context=jwel