Criticism of Affirmative Action As Seen on the College Campus

         As written in the Los Angeles Times newspaper, “Data from across the country suggests to some researchers that when law students attend schools where their credentials are much lower than the median at the school, they actually learn less, are less likely to graduate and are nearly twice as likely to fail the bar exam than they would have been had they gone to less elite schools” (Amar, Vikram and Sander, Richard).  As one can understand from the quote, affirmative action isn’t helping minority students because they are being thrown into something that they aren’t used too and they are having much more expected out of them than ever before.   Also stated in the L.A. Times was that research shows that 50% of black law students end up in the bottom tenth of their class, more than twice as likely to drop out as white students, and only one in three black students who start law school graduate and pass the bar exam on their first try.  The fact that those of different race are receiving preferential treatment is only making matters worse for said person.  A lot of the time, the applicant is being set up for failure when there could have been someone else who would have done just as well and was much more qualified for the position in the class.

        In order to have true diversity, people cannot be forced together.  Take a city for instance.  Those living in the city chose to live there.  It doesn’t matter what race they are or where they come from, and there is not any certain quota that the city has to reach.  With universities now, the people admitting the students into the school are picking and choosing who they want attending classes there.  Virtually, the people who are in charge of admissions are the ones in charge overall because they have complete control over whoever is accepted. This isn’t creating true diversity because all of the students are almost being forced together; there is not a single ounce of fate involved. In the academic world, diversity shouldn’t be based off of the color of a person’s skin, it should be based off of the intellectual opinions of the students.  That is where the real diversity comes into play because during a student’s college years, he or she finds themselves and figures out what they truly believe in.  If people are looking for a truly diverse campus, they will find one where affirmative action doesn’t play a role in its selection process.  

        Affirmative action has three negative outcomes. Those negative outcomes are; people earning their spot in their selected college solely based on who they are rather than what they have achieved, affirmative action does not achieve its goal of helping minority groups, and affirmative action does not lead to a truly diverse community within the Universities walls.   Affirmative action doesn’t do anybody good because it is taking away the dreams of deserving student to one that is not as deserving. The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s mission statement is,

The mission of the University of Wisconsin System is to develop human resources, to discover and disseminate knowledge, to extend knowledge and its application beyond the boundaries of its campuses, and to serve and stimulate society by developing in students heightened intellectual, cultural, and humane sensitivities, scientific, professional and technological expertise, and a sense of purpose. Inherent in this broad mission are methods of instruction, research, extended training, and public service designed to educate people and improve the human condition. Basic to every purpose of the UW System is the search for truth (The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin).

There is not a single phrase speaking of racial diversity and creating a school with a larger ethnic background. The mission of a college has nothing to do with the color of one’s skin, the whole point of the mission statement is describing what the college plans on doing for the student not for what the student does for the college’s quotas.

Works Cited

D'Souza, Dinesh. Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus. New York: The Free Press, 1991. 25-26. Print.

Mission, Vision and Core Values. The Board of Regents of the University of Wiscon, 2012. Web. 1 Oct. 2012. <http://www.uwosh.edu/home/about-uw-oshkosh/about-uw-oshkosh/mission-vision-and-core-values>.

Kasich, John. John Kasich on Civil Rights. N.p., 11 Jan. 2011. Web. 1 Oct. 2012. <http://www.ontheissues.org/OH/John_Kasich_Civil_Rights.htm>.

Sandar, Richard, and Vikram Amar. Does affirmative action hurt minorities?. Los Angeles Times , 27 Sept. 2007. Web. 1 Oct. 2012. <http://www.latimes.com/news/la-oe-sander26sep26,0,6466017.story>.