Class Affirmative Action

All Affirmative Action is an abomination for those who think that people should be treated as individuals, but this would make more sense than basing it on race. 

A recent study released by Public Agenda notes that the main reason college students drop out of school is because they have to work.

So The Chronicle of Higher Education posed a series of interesting questions to a group of scholars and experts related to this topic, including: “Has the time come for an affirmative-action policy based on socioeconomic status?”

Richard D. Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, told the Chronicle that “three trends are likely to push the idea of affirmative action for low-income students to the forefront in the next couple of years. ...

“First, the enormous underrepresentation of low-socioeconomic students at selective institutions, always an embarrassment to higher education, is getting worse. ...

“Second, increasing attacks on race-based affirmative action will very likely push universities to put in place class-based programs as an indirect and legally sound way of promoting racial diversity.

1. The basic premise for my womens studies paper back in 1986 was just this. The project was to research and write a paper describing what we saw as the most discriminated group at the time. I took the white male college student. The rational was that at the end of the education process I would have a debt of about $10,000 while my peers would start at zero so the arguement that women made less in the workforce after graduation was false because we did not start at the same level to begin with. I also brought up the idea of scholarships and grants. At the time there were no scholarships for the white male while blacks, hispanics, women, lesbians, gays, handicapped and so on could qualify for 10s of thousands of dollars that white males could not. White males could not compete for a black, female, single mother scholarship and had to compete for the general scholarships and grants with the black, female, single mother. I got all sorts of flak and eventually was drummed out of the class and was told that I was lucky to be a white male because I would have it easier to find a job. I told them that I would gladly give up my 3rd shift job for their school money. It is also interesting to note that at a certain state school they denied funding to grade based associations because they were exclusionary. Our orginization questioned how inclusive the latino league was and how a black student union was ok.

   Posted by fishaddict on December 19, 2009 at 1130 hrs




2. To clarify though, I disagree with making broad statements the basis for such policy. I recieved an outstanding education at both a private and public school. It took me close to 10 years to pay off my school. I have an asset that those other folks can never hope to attain because I learned how to A) make do with what I had and B) work hard for my education. In my job now in the Navy as well as in the private world it has shown to be quite the beneficial skill. I have held many jobs and gained experience in many things. I have developed the skill of positive adaptability (some refer to me as the scrounge). I can take a task and complete it with what I have and what I can aquire. I would love to have the best of the best tools and people but that is not how the world works. I have to take the folks I have and match them to the tools I have and give them the room to do their jobs. That is a skill that can’t be learned from a book, rather it has to be learned through a combination of desire, observation, hardship, and reward.

   Posted by fishaddict on December 19, 2009 at 1141 hrs




3. We grew up as the “working poor”.  I was receiving invites from places like Brown and Georgia Tech.  I ended up going to a local school and racking up $6K in loans my first year.  So I quit.  I was fortunate enough to get a low-paying full-time job that had a generous tuition reimbursement program.  That employer ended up paying for a good chuck of both my undergrad and graduate degrees.  I consider myself extremely fortunate.

   That said, maybe they should just try to look into making these universities more affordable.  Every year, you hear report after report of colleges and universities raising tuition and fees by significantly more than the rate of inflation.  Why?

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 19, 2009 at 1201 hrs




4. Maybe the question is, should everyone HAVE a college education? I know people that I went to school with that applied and were accepted at, Harvard, Yale, Brown, RPI, MIT and Stanford. They were not from well off families, but were able to go and pay for school based on academic scholarships and grants. If you have the chops to go to school, at least an undergrad, and they want you, they will get you the money.  Basing affirmative action on class is, by definition, redistribution of wealth.  Am I naive enough to think that all primary and secondary schools are funded equally? No. But if we are going to give extra finding to the socioeconomically challenged, let’s start there and let all of the cream have a chance to rise to the top.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 19, 2009 at 1221 hrs




5. I once asked an african-american friend of mine if we needed affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity for white athletes ?  He looked at me funny, “dude. that wouldn’t be fair.  white people are a minority in the NBA because they aren’t talented, not because people are racist”.  Yeah, so affirmative action would only cause more problems….

   Posted by JosiahCantrall on December 20, 2009 at 1653 hrs




6. ...always an embarrassment to higher education…

   Why is this so? Why does it have to be an embarrassment? Why should a college degree be thought of any differently than a 50” plasma tv or a North Face jacket?

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 21, 2009 at 0959 hrs




7. I think the increasing attacks on race-based affirmative action is wrong.

   Posted by green laser pointer on December 21, 2009 at 1007 hrs