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The Daily Tar Heel

Opinion: Abigail may be mad, but you shouldn't be

In November 2014, Students for Fair Admissions filed a lawsuit against UNC and Harvard University.

The organization itself believes that a student’s race and ethnicity should not be considered in competitive university admissions — which is why they accused UNC’s undergraduate admissions of performing racially and ethnically discriminatory policies.

In short, SFA believes that UNC is discriminating against Asian students. The lawsuit rings similar to the Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin case, in which Abigail Fisher, a white woman, said the university had denied her admission based on her race.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court decided to uphold the affirmative action program at the University .

Thank goodness.

If anything, affirmative action begins to compensate for the 18 plus years of less opportunity experienced by minorities and achieving the same results as their counterparts.

It forces those in higher power to seriously consider unrepresented individuals — and this is important. Diverse classrooms provide the opportunity for more challenging discussions and more well-rounded learners.

As an example, if you learn everything you know about a certain group of people from TV or word of mouth, chances are you’ll feel uncomfortable interacting with someone different from you in person.

The more people you interact with, the more comfortable you will be, and the more culturally competent you will become. For our undergraduate admissions office to be intentional about their recruitment and enrollment to promote diversity is crucial.

It helps to correct the misinformation and rectify the lack of information that K-12 left us with about other cultures. Now, many students find themselves fulfilling that role.

Oftentimes, under-represented students find themselves in the role of “professor” outside of the classroom. They find themselves caught up in conversations describing their appearance, day-to-day practices and are forced to justify their behavior if it differs from the norm.

When you have a classroom filled of students from the same state, mostly from the same area — there will be an odd man out. They may have an accent, or “look” like they come from a certain “type” of family or cultural background.

Interactions do matter. Representation does matter.

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