<p>The University of Florida is ranked 2nd overall in the United States for the total number of Bachelor Degrees awarded to African Americans, and 3rd overall for Hispanics. In addition UF ranks 5th overall in total number of Doctoral Degrees awarded to African Americans, and 2nd overall for Hispanics. Lastly UF ranks 3rd overall in total number of Professional Degrees awarded to African Americans, and 1st overall for Hispanics.</p>
<p>First off, those stats aren't generally relative to what I was saying. Yes, minority enrollment has remained steady. I didn't and will not argue that. However, UF has gotten rid of scholarships based on race and affirmative action. Does race play a role in admissions process? Yes, I won't argue that. But every person who has gotten into UF has something to contribute.
I stated that people should not be grouped and indeed, black, Hispanics, Asians get in on their own merit. I know plenty of blacks who have gotten rejected as well as whites so race does not guarantee a spot yet comparing SAt's scores of different races is wrong b/c by doing so, people are not only alienating but devaluing the work of those minorities who have in fact gotten 1300's and 4.0's, those who worked hard to get into a certain school.
Have some minorities gotten a boost for being one? Yes, but altogether people got in on their own merit.</p>
<p>"Yes, minority enrollment has remained steady."</p>
<p>A - Remained steady???? Minorities have increased by over 6% in only 8 years. Female enrollment has increased by 4%.</p>
<p>"UF has gotten rid of scholarships based on race and affirmative action."</p>
<p>A - That was the Legislature not UF. Bernie Machen is working hard as heck to increase first time in college & low-income families scholarships. It's against the law to target just minorities, but by tailoring the scholarships in this fashion it remains constitutional.</p>
<p>"But every person who has gotten into UF has something to contribute."</p>
<p>A - I agree all the best Universities have diversity. However I also understand where Tomlansky is coming from. Overall I am neutral though.</p>
<p>"The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."</p>
<p>-John G. Roberts, Jr. , Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court</p>
<p>UF reduced the scholarship money for National Merit SF from $5500/year to $1000/year. You can look up the demographics of those students.</p>
<p>"That was the Legislature not UF. Bernie Machen is working hard as heck to increase first time in college & low-income families scholarships. It's against the law to target just minorities, but by tailoring the scholarships in this fashion it remains constitutional."</p>
<p>But these scholarships don't target just minorities. One of my really good friends is white and receives these kind of scholarships. They're well-intentioned scholarships; why wouldn't low-income families deserve this kind of help?</p>
<hr>
<p>However, as a minority i'm offended at some of these barely veiled efforts to say that minorities accepted may not live up to the same standards as white students accepted. I've had to deal this enough times, and i've been forced to rattle out stats to prove myself to people I barely know. Vanessa Williams said it best, blacks (and other minorities) have to work twice as hard, if not more, to be considered as an equal to white people. And it's just ridiculous.</p>
<p>vb0515, most of the people complaining on this U of F section of CC are just bitter and angry because they can't accept the fact that other people were chosen for acceptance over them. In addition, they don't understand the value of diversity. Up here in New York, diversity is a way of life and we like it that way. Most kids up here have a wide circle of racial and ethnic friends and value each for who they are (not the color of their skin or their accents).</p>
<p>What I was trying to say in the above post is that people up here appreciate diversity and understand the value it brings.</p>
<p>vb0515 - There would be no justification needed if the stats of minorities were comensurate with those of the school as a whole.</p>
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…most of the people complaining on this U of F section of CC are just bitter and angry because they can't accept the fact that other people were chosen for acceptance over them. In addition, they don't understand the value of diversity.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It’s not the fact that one person is accepted over another per se that embitters some. It’s the margin of difference between qualifications. Blacks just don’t have the academic strength necessary to be admitted in the numbers that UF Admissions wants. To deal with this UF has substantially abandoned the most direct measures of academic readiness. Using the so-called holistic approach, UF can admit a person for whatever reason they choose. That is what has led to such a wide disparity in the SATs and GPAs between blacks and others that have been admitted.</p>
<p>Regarding valuing diversity, diversity can be a good thing. But lack of it doesn’t isn’t necessarily a bad thing. What is wrong with, for example, FAMU, Bethune-Cookman, and Howard University being largely (or to put it more politically correctly, "historically") black universities? Answer: Nothing at all. If diversity were enforced uniformly across all institutions and organizations, none of these schools would be permitted to be predominantly black. Folks just need to stop wasting even a millisecond on worrying about diversity and start focusing on the root causes of why blacks are comparatively under-qualified by the time they get to college. </p>
<p>vb0515 quoted Vanessa Williams as saying that “blacks (and other minorities) have to work twice as hard, if not more, to be considered as an equal to white people”. As far as I can see it’s exactly the opposite, at least it is here at UF.</p>