Education Department, DOJ Explain Ways Universities Can Use Race in Applications ?
This guide contains a legal interpretation of the recent decision of the Supreme Court and offers various temporary solutions for admissions officers.
The Department of Education and the Department of Justice released a special guide Monday explaining to college and university administrators how they can take race and ethnicity into account in admissions decisions, following a landmark Supreme Court ruling banning the use of affirmative action discrimination.
“This is an urgent moment in higher education,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona began by saying at a news conference on Monday morning. “The Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action has taken away an important tool that colleges have used for years to create diverse campus communities and provide fair opportunities to students from all backgrounds.”
“Previous experience shows that when you ban affirmative action, college applications and admissions become less diverse. We cannot allow ourselves to take such a step back on a national scale – when our country is enriched in diversity, when we should be able to survive in a competitive world.”
The guide was presented in the form of a question-and-answer format and a letter, and contains a legal interpretation of the Supreme Court’s decision. It also offers various workarounds on how admissions officers can legally continue their efforts to reach a student body that is diverse on a number of factors, including “race and ethnicity.
Earlier this summer, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court passed a series of rulings banning the use of race in college admissions.These decisions have changed decades of precedent, leading to radical changes in higher education and possibly meaning fewer admissions to elite universities for Black and Hispanic students.These decisions come at a time when the country is trying to deal with the historical effects of systemic racism and universities are trying to expand access to students of color.
Following the verdicts, President Joe Biden urged colleges and universities to continue using race, income and diversity measures in their admissions processes.The Ministry of Education shared best practices on this issue, guided university presidents, admissions officers and various student bodies, and focused on diversity, student admission, retention and graduation issues in higher education.
The guidance is aimed at helping colleges and universities, which are limited by the Supreme Court’s decision, understand their admissions processes related to the use of race. Also, by providing examples, it shows how these schools can legally reach a student body that is diverse in various factors.
The Supreme Court’s decision does not mean that schools should not take into account students’ past experiences, especially racial experiences. For example, a university might consider the personal meaning of an applicant being the first Black violinist in his city’s youth orchestra, or how an applicant copes with prejudice when he transfers to a high school where he is the only student of South Asian descent.
Deputy Attorney General Vanita Gupta noted that this decision should not be used to change the admissions environment in higher education, and stressed that colleges and universities should and should keep their doors open to all students from various backgrounds.
The letter suggests that colleges and universities should increase their efforts to recruit and retain students of color, students from low-performing schools, and students from disadvantaged communities. They may also need to reconsider or remove the preferences given to privileged students. Colleges and universities can participate in programs that support disadvantaged students who attend or graduate from community colleges, and they can increase need-based financial support.
The guidance was developed with the aim of improving the admission processes of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, who disproportionately have students of color, to colleges and universities. By collaborating with school districts in disadvantaged areas, it recommends that students gain better access to high-quality advanced level courses and invest in programs that develop their potential. In this way, colleges and universities can increase the chances of admission, success and graduation of more students.
Officials at the Department of Education and the Department of Justice have indicated that they will offer additional guidance in the near future and are ready to investigate civil rights complaints about the use of October 2018. The Ministry of Education plans to publish a report outlining how it can attach importance to Decrepitude measures when choosing from qualified candidates. This report will include an assessment of students’ financial situations and personal experiences of hardship or discrimination, and will highlight different student bodies.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona emphasized that this period requires a courageous commitment to equality and justice, referring to the courageous commitment shown by the leaders of the civil rights movement.