I cannot begin to express my disdain with the (editorial) entitled "Putting Merit Into Aid." As a minority student on campus and a recipient of one of the merit-based scholarships offered by the University, I am personally offended by the presumptuous statements offered concerning the need for N.C. officials to begin "instilling images of academic success in minority students, who have become accustomed to having less expected of them from the educational establishment." Minority students in primary and secondary education need to see that there are minority students attending institutions of higher learning. And how is it that anybody could see public universities as being "punished" by admitting minority students? It is a heavily supported fact that multicultural/ethnic presence enhances the learning environment.
Furthermore, the author states that the source of the punishment universities are facing derives from a "failure in equality that started well before students entered high school." Much of the failure in equality stems from the University involving methods that promoted, either directly or indirectly, the unequal treatment of students in the school system. What the author suggests is that universities should continue to deny equal opportunity to potential minority students by denying funding, academic recognition for achievement and admission to the universities.
Minority students need to see other minorities succeeding at the University level. Minority students need to be motivated by minority students.
If universities deny minorities the right to higher learning as an opportunity for the advancement of minority students in secondary education, it will not matter what kind of initiatives are made by University officials (who are predominantly white) to reach out to these students.
I do not need an (editorial) in the DTH to continue to perpetuate this myth that minority students are not good enough to be at Carolina and that minority students are stealing the thunder of prospective white students applying for merit-based aid. Thank you for putting me in my place once again.
Adrianna Domingos
Senior
History
The length rule was waived.
