In a guest post, Rafael S. Figueroa, dean of college guidance at the Albuquerque Academy, in New Mexico, shares his view of affirmative action. Mr. Figueroa was formerly associate dean of admission at Wesleyan University, in Connecticut.

Recently, during a college-search meeting with a junior and his parents, the issue of racial identity came up. The student’s father is white, and his mother is Hispanic. The student was wondering if he should identify himself as Hispanic when applying to colleges. “I tried to convince him that was OK,” explained the father, “but he doesn’t think he is a real Hispanic.”

Despite my familiarity with the admission process, I paused. This is not a simple question, and it touches on a critical issue facing American higher education: What place, if any, should racial and ethnic background have in admissions decisions?

Although maintaining a racially an…

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