Nicole Ochi, an Asian Americans Advancing Justice lawyer working on the group's behalf, said in a call with reporters that there are too many applicants with perfect test scores and grade-point-averages to consider only academic merit.
"Test scores, grades – they're not objective," she said in a press call. "The consideration of race in Harvard's admission process benefits everyone."
So reports today's South China Morning Post. (https://sc.mp/2Asiu7S).
Read that again. ".. 'they're not objective,' she said...".
No, Ms Ochi. Test scores are not "not objective". They are the one thing in the admission process that is objective! Race? what... African-American? black-but-not-African-American? Afro-Mexican-American? brown-but-a-touch-white-American? Eurasian-but-not-American? Where do the lines begin and end?
And "personality" scores? You're kidding! You give that hyper-subjective wand to the biased (everyone is biased) admissions officers?
Coleman Hughes, a black undergrad student of philosophy at Columbia, points out that a majority (57% iirc) of African Americans say the don't want race to be a factor in admissions. (See recent podcast with Sam Harris I posted earlier).
It was useful and arguably necessary to have race as a consideration decades ago. But the need has passed with time. Affirmative action has done its job and ought be retired. Slowly, sure. Just not entrenched. More emphasis ought go back to grades and test scores. Much research shows that they are the best predictor of success in life.
And: let's see more diversity of opinion and world views in the academy, not inevitably biased diversity of race purely for race-based identity politics.
Link >> https://sc.mp/2Asiu7S
Sent from my iPhone
