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One thing is clear in affirmative action debate: A diverse and inclusive student body is a value to all

By NJSBA Staff posted 05-15-2020 08:56 AM

  

Affirmative action in higher education is the focus of Virtual Annual Meeting Panel

There is tremendous value to all students to have an inclusive and diverse student body in our colleges and universities.

The landmark case Brown v. Board of Education was supposed to end segregation in the nation’s k-12 schools, but research has unequivocally shown that re-segregation has occurred, including in New Jersey.

Rhasheda Douglas, assistant dean of the Minority Student Program at Rutgers Law School, said in 2015 a typical white student in the Garden State went to a school where 67 percent of the students were white. The experience was similar for Hispanic students.

Our public school system… continues to be segregated by race. Our students do not have the opportunity to engage with people of difference racial backgrounds, socio-economic status and experience,” Douglas said.

More black and Hispanic students go to school in districts that lack resources, counselors and it leads to achievement gaps. Race has to be one of the factors that is considered when students apply for college, she said

Douglas spoke at “Affirmative Action in Higher Education and the Implications of the Harvard Case.” Also on the panel were: Rutgers Law Profession Stacy Hawkins; NJSBA Trustee Roger Lai, a co-chair of the Diversity Committee; Cara McClellan, assistant counsel NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Dean Burrell, chair of the NJSBA Minorities in the Profession Section, served as moderator.

The panel discussed how the admissions process works and how race can factor into decision-making; the legal, evidentiary, and remedial distinctions between intentional discrimination and the constitutionality of a race-conscious admissions policy; the social science evidence on the impact of race-conscious admissions policies on campus climate; and the politicization of the affirmative action debate in the Asian American and African American communities and its implications.

Panelists also talked about the history of affirmative action and education cases in the United States, including other cases dating as far back as 1885 where Asian Americans were plaintiffs. In his presentation, Lai emphasized that Asian-American -- like most commonly-used race or ethnicity groupings -- is not a monolith, and represent a broad range of backgrounds, both in terms of nationality, education level and socioeconomic status. 

The value of having a diverse population in colleges and universities cannot be underestimated, Douglas said. When students are going off to college they have an opportunity to engage with people from different backgrounds, just as they are developing their own identities and maturing. Minority and non-minority students benefit from the experience. It can decrease isolation, tokenism, and implicit bias. Learning in such an environment produces people ready to be world leaders.

“We want to be able to continue developing leaders who are going to help us continue developing as a nation,” she said.

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