Linda Chavez On Preferences

In an OpEd today in the Washington Times, Linda Chavez, head of the Center for Equal Opportunity, reports that when her organization studied admissions standards at the University of Michigan

we discovered that the median SAT scores for black students who were admitted to the school were 230 points lower than for whites. What’s more, their high school grades lagged nearly a half point (on a four-point scale) behind those of whites. From the data we obtained under a Freedom of Information request, we calculated that the odds of being admitted if you were a black student with the same qualifications as a white applicant were 174-to-1. [Note: that report, and others, can be found under “Publications” on the CEO website linked above.]

Chavez calls the assumption underlying these preferences racist because they assume that blacks and Hispanics can’t be expected to meet the same standards as whites. She quotes a comment from former Rutgers president Frank Lawrence that is extreme only in its frankness:

“The average SAT [score] for African-Americans is 750. Do we set standards in the future so we don’t admit anybody? Or do we deal with a disadvantaged population that doesn’t have that genetic, hereditary background to have a higher average?” Mr. Lawrence nearly lost his job over the ensuing flap, but because he was such a staunch liberal and defender of affirmative action, he didn’t.

Say What? (2)

  1. Michelle Dulak December 9, 2002 at 1:36 pm | | Reply

    “From the data we obtained under a Freedom of Information request, we calculated that the odds of being admitted if you were a black student with the same qualifications as a white applicant were 174-to-1.”

    She means that “the odds of being admitted if you were a white student with the same qualifications as an [average] black applicant” were 174:1, right? Or am I just misreading her?

  2. John Rosenberg December 9, 2002 at 3:14 pm | | Reply

    She’s claiming, based on their research, that a black student is 174 times more likely to be admitted than a white student with the same qualifications, i.e., grades and admission test score.

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