Affirmative Action Should Not Be Brought Back to University Admissions Jamie Lee Speech 6, Section April 27, 2014 Project #2, Part 2

In this presentation, I will  Explain what Harms come with Affirmative Action  Explain how Affirmative Action causes these problems  The Plan  How keeping Affirmative Action away is beneficial  Additional advantages of no Affirmative Action

What is Affirmative Action?  An institution engages in efforts to improve opportunities for previously excluded groups  In universities, it refers to admission policies

The Harms How is Affirmative Action harmful? Unfair to highly qualified students 1 In actuality, Affirmative Action is detrimental to minorities 2 Encourages covert racism 3

 According to Opposing Viewpoints in Context, “Schools admitted minority students who were less qualified than white students in order to meet their quota…”  Qualified students pushed over to the side to make room for less qualified students for the sake of “diversity”  Leads to students attending universities outside of their zones of proximal development Affirmative Action Unfair to Highly Qualified Students Harm 1

 In an NPR discussion about Affirmative Action, Gail Hariot, professor of Law at UC San Diego and member of U.S. Commission on Civil Rights remarks that, “Universities that employ Affirmative Action actually produce fewer black scientists, engineers, and medical doctors”  This occurs when students are admitted into an academic range they regularly perform under  Leads to disheartened students, since they underperform compared with their peers, and eventually drop out  Affirmative Action hurts the minorities it is trying to help Affirmative Action Actually Detrimental to Minorities Harm 2

 Affirmative Action keeps society aware of the divides and increases resentment between minorities  “Positive” racism is still racism  Universities being color-blind in admissions is a strong step forward to eradicating racism Encourages Covert Racism Harm 3

Why is Affirmative Action a problem? Structural Inherency Encourages minorities not to perform at their best Minorities learn that they do not have to do their best in order to “succeed” When put in situations in which Affirmative Action has no part, minorities often fall short compared to better qualified peers This leads to a perpetuating cycle of under- represented minorities

 Agent: Universities in California  Mandates: 1. Affirmative action will take no part in college admissions 2. Students will gain admission into universities based on their merits 3. As a result, diversity will occur organically due to minorities’ own strengths and talents  Enforcement: Rejected applicants who feel they have been discriminated against may dispute the university’s admission decision. The student may file a case against the university in court. Results dependent upon precedent court cases.  Funding and Staffing: No extra funding or staffing needed since we are removing prior policy  Timeline: Effective immediately Plan of Action

Solvency How is Keeping Affirmative Action Away Beneficial? We protect the fairness of the educational system 1 We stop unintentionally hurting minorities. 2 We do not encourage covert racism. 3

 Students receive education that more closely matches their academic level  Highly qualified students will not be cut short of an education fitting for their level of academics We protect the fairness of the educational system Solvency 1

 “…there are now four peer reviewed studies that show very clearly that if you receive a large preference into a college or university, you’re 50 to 75 percent more likely to drop out…” - Mismatch: How Affirmative Action Hurts Students It’s Intended to Help, and Why Universities Won’t Admit It  Without affirmative action, minorities will be more likely to continue schooling, instead of dropping out, and in turn will come out as successful professionals We stop unintentionally hurting minorities Solvency 2

 We do not try to undo past racism by enacting more racism  Louis P. Pojman, philosopher and professor, points out the case of the Brooklyn Dodger’s recruitment of Jackie Robinson, saying that successful racial integration “was done in just this way, according to merit. If Robinson had been brought into the major league as a mediocre player… he would have been scorned and sent back to the minors where he belonged.”  We become color-blind from admissions, which will spread towards the rest of the country We do not encourage covert racism Solvency 3

 Students will receive education that they are capable of and can excel in  Successful students lead to an effective workforce  A talented workforce leads to a boost in the economy  Eradicating racism entirely from education is a huge step in erasing racism in daily life  Stereotypes no longer perpetuated  Minority’s personal achievements no longer devalued by being chosen just because of ethnicity Additional Benefits

Let’s build a better and fairer California University admissions without Affirmative Action is more suitable