The higher-ed establishment recently published a splashy “statement” defending the use of racial preferences in deciding which students to admit. In today’s Pope Center piece, Roger Clegg of the Center for Equal Opportunity scrutinizes it and finds that it’s full of erroneous notions and empty clichés. Colleges and universities may have an interest in assembling a diverse student body, he argues, but a student’s race has no logical bearing on whether he or she will do anything to add to the academic environment on campus. Just because a student is put into one of the “historically underrepresented” groups does not mean that he or she will enrich the school intellectually; conversely, students who don’t qualify for “underrepresented” status might do so — but they’re overlooked.
Too bad that no one in the higher-ed establishment has the nerve to speak the truth and admit that the preferences regime is a costly game that allows the establishment to feel good about itself.