Diversity campaign in the admissions office.
For those of you that think this never happens, read the book The Gatekeepers. The book details the admissions process that existed at the time at Wesleyan. The main figure, admissions officer Ralph Figueroa, searches far and wide for under-represented groups.
At the very end of the book, it describes how most of his under-represented students washed out because they couldn’t handle Wesleyan’s academic rigor.
@hebegebe… Yep. That seems to be even more cruel than not admitting unqualified individuals in the first place… accepting them and making them think they can cut it… and then they flunk out.
Forgot to add that Jack and Bob Kennedy were not full-throat civil rights activists. Jack didn’t think that segregation and discrimination was a national problem. And RFK famously gave a speech at UVA law school that was quite timid about ending Jim Crow. Should RFK’s bust and plaque be removed from the anti-poverty center he helped create in a Black Brooklyn neighborhood? Should JFK be despised for not supporting neither the Freedom Riders nor the students who tried to integrate the University of Mississippi?
Which would be a shame because I believe there should be more American black students on campus. The first time I visited the school it was a culture shock seeing so many white and Asian students and hardly any black students. We live in an area where about half the population is black so that is what I am used to seeing.
@dragonflygarden, I agree in general. But these particular students are not helping make that case. I don’t mind some of the recent protests. But this one seems stupid to me.
@hebegebe I’m sure all these white and Asian protesters would disagree with you.
^ yes playing the “affirmative action” card is truly ugly.
I have no objection to the Mizzou or CMC protests. But attacking Woodrow Wilson is just plain dumb.
I think they are in the process of removing his name from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs as we speak…
Wondering if part of the reason for these types of arguments from AA students stem from the fact that elite universities’ AA faculty tend to be in AA studies and the like. Is that the only rhetoric they hear? In my directional university, we have faculty across all disciplines from diverse backgrounds. I have never seen such ridiculous behavior from any of our students, black, white, purple or blue. A couple of my star AA math and science students would do anything for an opportunity to actually study at these elite schools.
Where did I mention race? If I meant race, I would have said so explicitly. I truly meant diversity, which could be race, or it could be income, or it could be geography, or it could be educational opportunity, or it could be other things.
Diversity has good intentions. But if the bar is lowered as a result, as it often is, then everyone is worse off. An admitted student may struggle at Princeton but may have thrived at a less rigorous place. Another student who was not admitted may have thrived at Princeton.
Educational opportunities and professional opportunities are unfair, but the time to fix it is much earlier, not in college. If you come up with a real plan to fix the inequity in our elementary and high school systems, sign me up and I will gladly pay more taxes to support them. But don’t ask me to support diversity campaigns for college.
I used to volunteer to help inner city kids on how to position themselves for entry level jobs in my (high paying) industry. We each had a kid assigned to us and we started with the basics (such as how to shake hands and look people in the eye, what to wear, how to conduct interviews), and then moved onto the business skills they needed to learn. At the end, I took my kid out to a nicer restaurant than he had ever been to in his life, and my point in doing so was both as a celebration and to show him what he could aspire to.
So you’re equally concerned with the protesters who got into P’ton because they’re from South Dakota or have parents who are farmers or whatever other facets of diversity you think lowers standards and causes these protests?
Got it. I’m sure you didn’t mean race at all, even though we’re in the middle of a topic about racial protests.
Smith College protestors will only allow journalists to cover their protest if they pledge to write articles supporting them. They claim they need a “safe Space”.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2015/11/19/smith-student-activists-barred-reporters-from-entering-their-sit/9dUVPxZY1nSJAGkkt6tn0K/story.html?s_campaign=bcom%3Asocialflow%3Afacebook
Is there any evidence the students engaged in the protests are disproportionately struggling academically? Let’s not let the rhetoric get out of hand, please.
I answered the question “How did students with such a low level of critical thinking skills get into Princeton?”
Do you have a better answer?
I think that horse left the barn on page one.
I, for one, understood the question to be rhetorical, as these kids are clearly very bright, even if some are, to my mind, misguided. Passion and righteous anger can often lead people to extreme positions. This can especially be the case in an echo chamber like a college campus.
Of course, the result is that the media now runs a story that will result in readers having a negative view of the protesters. Not exactly the smartest way to manage media relations for anyone.
This “safe space” meaning that First Amendment rights aren’t available to journalists to cover protests in public places REALLY rubs me the wrong way.
I don’t think they do have a low level of critical thinking skills. What I think is that they’ve focused on a specific symbol of something more widespread, nebulous, call it what you will, that is real for many of them, or many of their friends and fellow students. Something specific and tangible that if changed, could be seen as support from the university.
But I am not part of that campus community and if I’ve learned anything in the past couple of weeks, it’s that things look very different out here than they do from in there.
I’m interested to see what happens after next week, when most kids have left campus for a bit and return and regroup.