More Blacks entering Ivy league schools

(blackenterprise.com) Racial diversity among first-year students is increasing at Ivy League institutions and other high-ranking, predominantly white colleges and universities.

The number of first-year African American students for the 2005—2006 academic year increased at universities such as Vanderbilt, Princeton, and Columbia, according to “The Progress of Black Student Enrollments at the Nation’s Highest-Ranked Colleges and Universities,” a study by The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. (more…)

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While this does sound like great news, I cannot help but wonder what percentage of these students made it in because of Affirmative Action. Were academic requirements lowered to get them in?

I am only asking this becase here in S. California their is an ongoing debate over UCLA’s decision to take a “holistic” approach to admissions (which is code for using “other factors” besides academics for consideration). UCLA has acknowledged that it is switching to the concept as a response to their declining Black enrollment.

Here is an excerpt from a pro-affirmative action article regarding comments made by LA mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa:

At the national Urban League’s 2006 conference, Villaraigosa cited affirmative action as a factor in his success. “Some people would say I snuck into UCLA through the back door. But one thing’s for sure: I got out through the front door,” he said in late July in Atlanta. (more…)

He may got out the front door, but when it came to his Bar exam, he failed it 4 times. He has never passed it.

To be fair here, there have been many people who have entered colleges/universities and have excelled under AA. My point here is by lowering academic standards, you INCREASE the amount cases where students are not able to handle that level of academics.

So again, while I am glad to hear that there are more Black faces showing up on Ivy league campuses that are not there for cleaning :) , I am still left wondering if just making it is something to celebrate here.

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Posted by Duane On October - 25 - 2006

4 Responses to “More Blacks entering Ivy league schools”

  1. MIB Says:
    October 25th, 2006 at 5:36 am

    Antonio Villaraigosa’s failure to pass the bar represents a true minority of law school grads, minority or otherwise.

    IIRC, approximately 70+% of ‘minority’ law school grads pass their respective state bar exams on the first try. Presuming the great majority of them to be AA admissions, they’ve obviously demonstrating an ability to handle the rigors of law school first by graduating, then passing the bar, thereby deconstructing the notion AA ‘lowers standards’.

  2. Duane Says:
    October 25th, 2006 at 6:47 am

    Yet there has been a sharp decline in Black enrollment in law schools during a time when enrollment is on the rise. Keep in mind that UCLA and all other colleges/universites here in CA has been banned from using race as a factor when enrolling students. So it seems to me that if these kids are able to ‘cut the mustard’, according to you they should have no problem. But the numbers out here do not arrive to that same conclusion.

    My question here pertains more to these students who are now getting into ivy league schools. While I am fully confident that many of these kids got there on their own merit, I am just as confident that many were also given special considerations because of the color of their skin.

    BTW, go with the GTI. :)

    I could not comment on your site because I had to register (and I was too lazy to do so). I thought about going for the GLI (the 4 door version), but my wallet suggested that I go with the tamer cousin, the VW Jetta 2.0.

  3. cynthia Says:
    October 25th, 2006 at 10:27 pm

    I think the students are qualified. I know Northwestern has tried to recruit more minority students but the competition is stiff. If you make it this far, you are smart enough to get in and finish. What I’ve seen is that other people who make it this far had helped getting to this point. I tell people all the time, these other groups are not that smart. I see it, I have experienced this. Sometimes I think people are here because they are white, or because they have moeny, it is so obvious that they are not here because they are smart. Therefore, even if affirmative action have helped some black people get into college, it is no different than anything I have personally observed with other groups.

  4. enraged Says:
    February 12th, 2009 at 3:32 pm

    Lynette, I have deleted your comment due to your excessive offensive language. I think you can make a decent point without going there.

    Duane (admin)

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