June 17, 2008

U. of Michigan Says It Has Avoided a Big Drop in Diversity From Proposal 2

The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor’s preliminary admissions figures for this fall’s entering freshmen suggest that it has a avoided a substantial drop in black, Hispanic, and Native American enrollment despite being barred from considering race and ethnicity in admissions.

The number of applications from students in one of those three minority groups fell by just 2 percent in the first full admissions cycle conducted under Proposal 2, a ban on the use of affirmative-action preferences by public colleges and other state and local agencies. Such students account for 10.47 percent of the projected entering freshman class, down from 10.85 percent a year ago.

“The results are not as dire as the opponents of Proposal 2 had predicted,” Ward Connerly, a leader of the campaign on behalf of the measure, said today.

A statement issued by the university described several steps it had taken to try to maintain racial and ethnic diversity. Its undergraduate-admissions office hired additional employees, expanded its hours of operation, and used Descriptor PLUS, a geodemographic search tool developed by the College Board, to identify high schools and neighborhoods that are underrepresented on its campus. The university also stepped up its outreach in communities such as Detroit.

The university’s figures show that its acceptance rate for black, Hispanic, and Native American students dropped only slightly, by 2.3 percent, over last year. The university admitted 47.3 percent of applicants from those three minority groups and 42 percent of all applicants. —Peter Schmidt

Comments

1. Well, this seems to prove that if a societal goal is correct, needed and proper, there is more than one way to achieve success.
   Hate to use the term “thinking outside the box” but that’s what institutions have to do if they want to achieve their goals. Now, if they are opposed — then forget it; no law in the world will force compliance. Thus the importance of leadership at the Board and Presidental levels.

   — Gustavo A. Mellander    Jun 18, 05:48 AM    #

2. That’s an interesting spin put on this by Ward Connerly. No, the results have not been as dire at Michigan, an institution famously committed to diversity and with the resources to mount a massive effort to keep up the numbers. But how about UC Berkeley, in Connerly’s own home state, where, for the last several years, it has been difficult to find a single African American face in the columns of students marching up to the Greek Theatre for graduation? Yes, the consequences of Proposition 209 and the clones that Connerly has been pushing elsewhere have been dire. It’s both startling and tragic that in a time that we are so concerned about our nation’s international competitiveness, we are still discarding so much of our available talent before it can have a chance to develop fully.

   — Bob M.    Jun 18, 06:34 AM    #

3. Are we sure they aren’t looking at applicants names to ensure they enroll equal amounts of nonwhite applicants?

   — cindy    Jun 18, 06:36 AM    #

4. Cindy, please tell me you did not just ask if Michigan was “looking at names” in an attempt to strive for racial diversity in its student body. Oh wait, you did. Sigh . . .

   Race is a self-reported characteristic — and in the increasingly multiracial world in which we live, it is getting inordinately difficult to associate any name with a race. Mixed race couples yield mixed race offspring. Interracial/International adoption yields anything-but-Anglo children with traditionally Anglo last names. For instance, the Anglo-sounding last name Richardson should be a limiter based on your approach – but if you used that approach for Bill. Richardson you would be barring admission to the Hispanic governor of New Mexico. Take your approach with the name Fujita, and you think you will be enrolling an Asian American student – but Scott Fujita (plays for the New Orleans Saints) is a white male (adopted by a family with an Asian father).

   The article CLEARLY states that Michigan used a geodemographic tool created by the College Board. The tool allows an institution to target specific neighborhoods (based on extended zip codes) for mailings, etc. In other words, Michigan is circumventing Ward Connerly’s silly segregation rule by exploiting defacto segregation in communities.

   Can’t target a specific race because the front man for status quo white supremacists will not let you? No worries – just mail to the neighborhoods where the non-legal (but nevertheless binding) forms of segregation have placed many of the peoples of these races. Bingo, you’ll still come close to achieving your goal. That’s the message here. Segregation is alive and well – clouded under the almighty veil of “merit.” Read deeper, folks.

   Sadly, Connerly is not working to end segregation in communities, and his law is reinforcing it in universities. Connerly spins it and says that the results are “not as dire,” but it is a drop – and, if California serves as an example (which I believe it does), it is the first step into a deep decline.

   Connerly and Co. should not have worked to end affirmative action in college admissions. They should have worked to fix the K-12 school system so affirmative action would not be needed in the college admissions process. They left those underpowered schools weak, and as a result of their focus, they are leaving the educational environment and our workforce even weaker.

   This IS dire, Ward, And sinister. Shame on you.

   — Goethe    Jun 18, 07:34 AM    #

5. Excellent points, thank you.

   — cindy    Jun 18, 07:43 AM    #

6. You mean we let the “natura selection” principles work — and they worked?? Wow. How novel — and no outside interference to boot…..

   — GT    Jun 18, 07:45 AM    #

7. No force but the minority cultures themselves will ever “fix the k-12 school system so affirmative action is not needed.” Folks who do not work in education are so quick to look at factors like segregation and the make believe racial bias in the k-12 system as reasons why minority students lag behind their counterparts in the admissions process. These forces have ZERO affect on college admission rates. I commend Ward Connerly for having the common sense to know that one fixes only what can be fixed.

   — Revelator    Jun 18, 08:05 AM    #

8. GT:

   Are you being sarcastic or are you really a fan of Darwinism in the admission process. If the latter, you are only one step away from advocating for the reintroduction of eugenics as a valid science. Scary!

   It is too early to tell if it “worked” — and the early indicators can just as easily be read as this not working. Also, it is silly to say that there is “no outsider interference” — unless you think that Connerly’s money and organization were not trying to interject/interfere.

   — Goethe    Jun 18, 08:08 AM    #

9. Revelator:

   First off, I work in education – have for nearly 2 decades. And I also see segregation at work here. So your point is invalid.

   Second, underrepresented minorities (in higher education) are over represented in underpowered K-12 systems. (Along with low-income whites.) There IS a strong correlation between the completion of a rigorous college preparatory program and admission to college – especially selective colleges. You are deluding yourself and ignoring voluminous amounts of credible research if you deem otherwise. If you go to an inner city school in many parts of Chicago, and your are fortunate enough to even get books, you are not allowed to take them home with you. How the heck do you expect the students in these schools to learn, let alone get into college, if they can’t take books home?!?

   I am NOT bashing K-12 educators. I AM taking issue with Connerly and his ilk for not helping those educators address issues in the K-12 sector and for taking steps that will lead to restricted access to selective postsecondary education in Michigan and elsewhere.

   — Goethe    Jun 18, 08:20 AM    #

10. Goethe

    You fail to understand (or deliberately confuse) the difference between “affirmative action” and quotas. The former includes things like the use of geodemographic tools to assure that the pool of applicants is not restricted by race. That’s fine, and Ward Connerly would clearly advocate their use. Quotas, which Michigan had been using. are another thing. The fact that true affirmative action efforts resulted in substantially the same level of diversity demonstrates that there are qualified “minority” applicants that can do the work. Quotas aren’t needed. Where they are used, they put unprepared kids into environments in which they can’t compete, and they fail. This has been demonstrated over and over. But do you care about them – or about demonstrating your moral superiority? Keep up your personal attacks on Connerly – they illustrate perfectly the lack of substance in your argument.

    You’re also wrong about the results in California to date – check your facts.

    — Will    Jun 18, 08:27 AM    #

11. Regarding # 7 (Revelator), the author of # 4 did not say there was racial bias in the K-12 school system. He said that some schools are weak.

    If you have evidence that all schools are equal in terms of the AP courses they offer, the credentials of the teachers, and resources that they have, please give the reference.

    — Ve    Jun 18, 08:31 AM    #

12. Ve…excellent point about the racial bias, and I stand corrected. As for your second point, perhaps you are assuming that if poorly-funded schools had more money, offered more AP courses, and employed better qualified teachers that more of their students would be admitted to college? Will the addition of these change the fact that these schools are populated with students many of whom are barely literate in literature or math? Teachers in these schools are realists and laugh at the idea of AP classes or National Certification miraculously transforming their students. I do not wish any school to be poor, but I also know from 10 years of teaching in a high school that is 65% minority that the solution to the current college admissions debacle does not lie in throwing more money at the k-12 system.

    — Revelator    Jun 18, 08:58 AM    #

13. The University of Michigan was never using “quotas.” That was a piece of hogwash put out by those suing the university in order to win the PR battle. It was using affirmative action, and its use of affirmative action was targeted (and outlawed) by the voter referendum in Michigan. The university was remarkably creative in finding ways to achieve diversity without violating the new law. For this it deserves enormous credit, and it will surely be a role model for many other institutions.

    — Julie    Jun 18, 09:04 AM    #

14. I always find it interesting when people say that you cannot fix a problem by “throwing money” at it. However, more resources, better paid and qualified teachers, extra cirricular activities, and better facilities (that require funding) are all components of higher performing K-12 schools. No, you are not going to magically fix anything if by senior year a student is basically illiterate, and is operating on a second grade level. However, if we fund all of our schools more adequately, then of course it will make a difference.

    I also find it interesting that individuals who say that you cannot fix the problem in schools by throwing money at it are the ones who live in more affluent areas or send their cildren to costly private schools. And as a product of a costly private school, and having grown up in a district where 98% of the population was African American, there is a huge and visible difference in the education that I recieved compared to the one I wouldn’t have gotten at the local public high school.

    — MD    Jun 18, 09:14 AM    #

15. Really? When I applied for grad school, I had to submit a picture. Only after I submitted my picture was I awarded a full scholarship to U of M. I will always be grateful for that scholarship and the remarkable education I received, but I am realistic to know my race was involved.

    — gloria    Jun 18, 09:21 AM    #

16. I lied and said I was black on my application to Harvard, I got in with a 3.6 GPA and 1290 SAT. Sweet!

    — Dave    Jun 18, 09:25 AM    #

17. The real test is in 4 years to see what percent of the graduating class is African American.

    — rooks    Jun 18, 09:28 AM    #

18. Will — check YOUR facts. I worked at Michigan for 20 years, including in admissions during the lawsuit years. There were NEVER quotas. Even with the point system (that the Supreme Court rejected for an even more holistic reveiw, but still allowing race consideration), race was but one of many factors. Each student was evaluated individually — I know — I spent hours each week (and weekend) reading applications. And do check the UC data — the drop in African American and Latino students at Berekely and UCLA was sudden, dramatic, and has never fully recovered. And pictures were never required for undergraduate admissions. My former colleagues at Michigan are to be commended for their tenacity, creativity, and passion for the compelling value of a diverse student body for ALL students.

    — EM    Jun 18, 10:05 AM    #

19. To#13,(Revelator) I formerly taught in the New York City public schools and the examples that I gave for the high school level, also apply at the elementary level (not AP courses, obviously). Students should be taught to read at the elementary level, before they get to high school. (I know that I state the obvious, but I hope you get my point.)

    Oprah once had on her show a high school teacher from Mississippi. He taught at a predominantly black high school. (They showed one of his classes and it was all black.) He had over 100 students (total), but only about 30 math books. He said it was difficult to teach with the shortage of books. He did not complain about the students being barely literate. Oprah was shocked and offered to purchase books. Perhaps money would enable the school system to purchase books for each student.

    To #17 (Dave), How long ago did you lie? I personally know a black male who applied to the 2007 class at Harvard. He made a 1410 SAT (reading and math) and had about a 3.75 GPA. He was not accepted. George Bush had an SAT score, in the 1200s, and was accepted at Yale. I can’t say for sure, but for some reason, I don’t think Bush lied and said he was black.

    Were you able to finish your degree? If so, that could be one indicator that Harvard was correct to admit you and any other student (black or otherwise) with similar credentials.

    — Ve    Jun 18, 10:05 AM    #

20. Will —

    Show me the data for Berkeley or UCLA that indicates that African American enrollment has increased please. I have not seen it. You claim it exists. If it does, please pass it along.

    Here is what have to support my claim that Prop 209 hurts opportunity for African Americans and Latinos in the U C top-tier institutions.

    Black Student Enrollment at UCLA Plunges (2006 NPR Story) – explains how African American made up a paltry 2% of the entering frist-year student class at UCLA in 2006 and that this is just part of a downward trend since the implementation of Prop 209 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5563891

    From a February 2008 Chronicle of Higher Education article “In California, it says, black enrollment declines were “devastating,” with the numbers for black men falling especially far. At the Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses, black students’ share of enrollment dropped by more than half, about as much as the universities’ leaders had feared it would. Berkeley’s entering freshman class of 1995 had 149 black students, accounting for 6.51 percent of first-year students; of those who entered in 2005, 109, or 2.97 percent, were black. At UCLA, black enrollment dropped from 7.31 percent to 2.67 percent during that 10-year period. The decline was not as steep at San Diego, but the campus’s black enrollment had been fairly negligible to begin with, accounting for 1.31 percent of the entering class of 1995 and 1.16 percent of the entering class of 2005. Few of the University of California system’s efforts to offset such declines had much effect. The system adopted a policy guaranteeing admission to students in the top 4 percent of their high-school class, but most black students who got in under the 4-percent rule had also been eligible under regular admissions criteria, the report notes.”

    Will, how can you with a straight face say that 209 has not decreased black and Hispanic enrollment in top-tier California higher educaiton? In a steadily diversifying workforce and society, how is this helping the nation? Where are your sources that back up your assertions and arguments. I showed you mine – and they completely negate what you assert.

    — Goethe    Jun 18, 10:23 AM    #

21. Oh who cares about George Bush’s SAT scores, Al Gore’s were not tha tmuch higher (1355) and both Gore(Harvard) and Kerry (Yale) got worse grades than Bush. See

    http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:8UbjMQykaOcJ:www.insidepolitics.org/heard/heard32300.html+george+bush+SAT+score&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a

    — rooks    Jun 18, 10:26 AM    #

22. to#22, So, what is your point in relation to my question to Dave? Dave mentioned his SAT score and seemed to imply that lying about his race helped him to get into Harvard. Are you saying that you know that Bush AND Gore lied about being black and that is how they got into Ivy League institutions??? Please present some evidence that they lied (about being black) to enter Yale and Harvard.

    — Ve    Jun 18, 10:48 AM    #

23. Goethe

    The following is from a UC-issued “fact sheet” from November 2001 summarizing the impact of Prop 209:

    Systemwide, the number of underrepresented minorities…admitted to and enrolling in the UC system dropped between 1997 and 1998. However, since 1998, their numbers have been rebounding. In fact, more underrepresented minorities were admitted to UC for fall 2001 than for fall 1997…
    In proportional terms, underrepresented minorities account for 18.6 percent of the admitted freshman class for fall 2001, compared to 18.8 percent for fall 1997.
    Growth in the number of admitted underrepresented minority students since 1998 has occurred at all campuses, including the US system’s most selective campuses.

    —End of Quote—

    All of the supporting data is available online to anyone who takes the time to look it up, rather than quoting from secondary sources. And, I was responding to your original comment about the dire results of ending affirmative action in college admissions in California, not Berkeley and UCLA, or African-Americans, in particular. Berkeley dropped from 23% in 1997 (admitted UM) to about 16.6% in 2002, where it has remained (roughly). UCLA dropped from 22.5% to about 20%. The overall system went from 18.8% in 1997 to 21.7% in 2007. Whites went from 39.9% to 31.2%.

    You asked for my facts. Here they are, straight from the source.

    — Will    Jun 19, 06:39 PM    #

Previous: Nebraska Regents Cautioned on Open-Meetings Law
Next: New York Lawmakers Ban Smoking in Dorms on Public and Private Campuses