Yale Abandons Segregated Orientation Program

Under pressure from outside groups who oppose racial discrimination, and based on its reading of the import of the Supreme Court’s recent affirmative decisions, Yale has decided to open a freshman orientation to program to students of all races. (Thanks to Erin O’Connor for the tip.)

Richard H. Brodhead, the dean of Yale’s undergraduate college, announced the change in the undergraduate-orientation program in a letter e-mailed to the college’s students on Friday. The program is called Cultural Connections.

His letter said the change was necessary in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings last June in two cases involving race-conscious admissions policies at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. While the Supreme Court “reaffirmed the value that the experience of diversity supplies as a component of education,” the rulings made it “harder to justify programs that separate student communities instead of building them into an interactive whole,” Mr. Brodhead’s letter said.

If more universities realized that separating students by race was not the surest path to “diversity,” then perhaps “diversity” programs might, in time, come to have something to do with diversity.

Say What? (2)

  1. aaron February 25, 2004 at 3:18 pm | | Reply

    This is an e-mail I sent to Michigan Daily writer Jason Pesick (no response):

    Thanks for your article, which shed some light on BAMN and, more importantly, on the state of discourse at Michigan (elitist academia really).

    I don’t have a concrete view on Affirmative Action, but I have always questioned its effectiveness and importance to social diversity and positive race relations at the University. I kept this to myself because I never bothered to look into the relevant data, I was afraid of the response, and because the one generalization that was most strongly enforced in me while at the U was that the U is not the real world (while Affirmative Action at Michigan seemed, to me, to hurt minorities and diversity rather than help them, that does not mean it is not effective elsewhere.) While at Michigan, I occasionally experienced some negative consequences of reverse discrimination in classes (including grading) that left me a bit jaded towards the prevalence of race issues in academia. I also observed that most African Americans at the U did not seem to come from disadvantaged backgrounds, rather the opposite (Yes, that’s a very specious generalization. Those students who weren’t from advantaged backgrounds probably worked especially hard to fit in or perhaps spent so much time working and studying that they went unnoticed). This raised many questions for me that I have yet to see answered: 1.) Given that the racial preference points (20) disqualified applicants from receiving economic hardship points (6), did this policy actually serve to give spots to high income minorities at a cost to the economically disadvantaged (maybe increasing dollar-generating out of state enrollment)? 2.) Did this in turn generate additional donations to the University? 3.) How many minority students actually were admitted because of these preferences and what were their financial situations?* 4.) How much money is donated to support Affirmative Action in the state? How much money was/is spent to defend Affirmative Action? How much government money is used? 5.) How much money and support were provided by poor minority communities and how many students, who would not have been admitted on their own merit, were admitted from those communities? Where did this money end up? Did it move from these communities to Ann Arbor? To white communities? To academic staff and wealthy lawyers? 6.) How much do minority students benefit from attending the University rather than alternates? Do they make more money? Incur more debt? Do they assimilate better? Are they happier? 7.) How effective are marketing and outreach? What efforts are/can be made to encourage minorities to apply to the University (and college in general)? To help them understand the admissions process, how to present themselves, the benefits of doing well in school and demonstrating commitment and responsibility, the benefits of attending the college, how to seek scholarships and financial aid? How much of this could be done for free within academic units and by students (such as a marketing course project, public speaking, public policy, etc.)?

    Aaron

    University Alum

    * side note: Aren’t disparities in income levels for minorities offset some by lower cost of living? I’ve seen people site the disparity in income levels as evidence of discrimination, but I suspect that it is due more to the existence of micro-economies (not assimilating) and cultural traits (that are a result of past discrimination) rather than current discrimination (though predatory lending and such are very real problems, I doubt they are racially motivated).

  2. aaron February 25, 2004 at 9:03 pm | | Reply

    Oops. I think I might be wrong on the number of admissions points.

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