In: Psychology
During the last couple of decades, colleges and universities have tried to increase their number of minority students by various forms of affirmative action. At Campus X, this has led to no small amount of dissension. Some students complain that the policy of accepting students with lower SAT and other scores just because of their race or minority status is unfair. Others believe that the diversity that results from such policies is good for everyone because we should learn to live together and a university campus should be a place to do this. Still, there is some question, even among members of this group, as to how well the integration is working. Furthermore, a different type of problem has recently surfaced. Because Asian Americans were represented in numbers grater than their percentage of the population, some universities were restricting the percentage of the population they would accept even when their scores were higher than others they did accept. Also, in some cases where affirmative action has been eliminated, the number of minority members accepted into certain medical and law schools has plummeted, and many people find this alarming.
Do you think that diversity ought to be a goal of campus admissions?
Or do you believe that only academic qualifications ought to count? Why?
There should be a holistic approach regarding the campus admissions. It should consider the diversity of nation for base of admissions and should include diversity as it's main criteria. This would enable students from diverse backgrounds to know each other and accept the diversity of their society, to which they beling and are it's integral part. This would blurr the lines of division among the members of society. It would provide the students from diverse backgrounds to have opportunities to enhance their potentialities and develop them to the optimum level. This would be beneficial to the society of which they are part of, as it would inculcate the values of tolerance, acceptance, and justice. It would help to remove the barriers of negative stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination among the students and ultimately the society. Counting academic qualifications for admissions are not practical and beneficial to the society, though, the colleges may benefit from it. The goal of right education will not be fulfilled because it may provide individuals and campuses with high academic records and ranks but not the individuals with human values, that are essential in the long run after the academic life.