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Fairness Comes to College Admissions…At Last!

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By Maya Mackey

Earlier this month, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that prohibits California private, non-profit colleges from giving preferential treatment to legacy students via unmerited admission. The caveat is that legacy admissions could continue if a school is willing to opt out of the CalGrant scholarship program and refuse to accept state funding for education and infrastructure. Higher education has been grappling with admissions politics since the turn of the decade—first by canceling Affirmative Action and now seeking true parity by banning legacy admissions. 

Ironically, the same people who pushed for an end to affirmative action in California (the Asian American community) are now complaining that they’re being “discriminated” against as they haven’t been able to break into prestigious schools at the rate that white people do. Them tables always turn, don’t they?

Since Affirmative Action—the initiative that aimed to close the gap between  white and non-white people’s access to higher education—was banned last summer, results show that the number of Black Ivy League students, namely at Yale and Duke, has stayed the same or increased. At Harvard, where Asian students filed the lawsuit which resulted in the Race Conscious Admissions Ban, the amount of Asian and Asian American admissions has remained unchanged, dispelling the myth that Black students are keeping other minorities out of elite higher education. According to everybody else, D.E.I. stands for “didn’t earn it”. But legacy admissions never earned their spot either so, what’s tea?

That being said, a report by Education Reform Now shows that, overall, the enrollment of Black students is down by seventy five percent at fifty prestigious colleges and universities. Latino students fair only slightly better. 

Higher Education has changed. What might have been an option and an opportunity to become well rounded and inspire philosophical meaning to a person’s life is more of a hustle in this day and age. For many melanated folks, particularly first generation college students, college is a necessity to build economic power for their families. The cost of college also remains a barrier to folks searching for a life of dignity. 

Ending legacy and race conscious admissions will hopefully bring parity to those who seek traditional means of higher education. While academic learning is not the best route for everyone, it certainly comes with networks and opportunities that you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else. Unless of course, you’re a legacy kid. Good luck earning your spot!

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