Students Discuss Affirmative Action

The discussion, sponsored by the Table Talk committee of the Campus Y, attracted almost 90 students to Greenlaw 101.

Though the term "affirmative action" was mentioned only once, students were able to listen to and ask questions of Jerry Lucido of UNC and Christoph Guttentag of Duke about the status of race in admissions at both universities. In addition, they learned more about the application process in general.

Both men stressed the importance of students understanding the misconceptions of college admissions, saying that admissions is more about rewarding academic performance and potential as well as institutions' taking into account their own priorities in making admissions decisions.

They then elaborated on the characteristics of the admissions process and explained that race was one of many factors that was considered on both universities' applications.

One student asked why race was divided into generalized groups on applications. She explained that when checking the box, she could check the box labeled "Asian" but didn't have an option to express her specific ethnicity.

Another issue brought up was that of socioeconomic status. Mark Laabs, a member of Table Talk, asked whether a person with financial needs who is subject to less opportunities is discriminated against in the admissions process.

Lucido explained that UNC values the concept of need-blind admissions as well as looking at the context in which a person is applying, like whether applicants are first-generation college students or low-income students.

Guttentag said Duke has a similar philosophy.

"We have the resources to fund (low-income) students adequately, and the fact that they need aid isn't going to keep us from admitting them," he said.

Though there was little debate about the contentious issue of affirmative action, Lucido and Guttentag discussed cases from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor that could have a large effect on the role race plays in universities' admissions processes.

Two separate lawsuits address the question of whether race should continue to be a factor in admissions or be eliminated altogether. One lawsuit has been filed against UM-Ann Arbor's law school, and the other has been filed against its undergraduate school. These decisions could affect all universities by changing how race is viewed in their admissions processes.

Laabs was very enthusiastic about the overall turnout of the discussion as well as the constant dialogue between the students and the two admissions directors.

"I was excited to see that there was a continuous dialogue where Lucido and Guttentag responded to the students' questions and were also very open in their responses," he said. "I was also surprised that the students didn't have a headstrong opinion about admissions and affirmative action."

Laabs also said the students seemed to have limited education and knowledge about the admissions process, but that it was good to see them learning.

The discussion did lean toward students learning more about the admissions processes at both schools as well as what characteristics of their applications accommodate race issues.

The questions students asked centered on the importance of diversity in universities and how UNC has progressed in obtaining such diversity.

Lucido said, "Our goal is to achieve diversity in an educational environment, and at the moment, there's not an underrepresented group on our campus."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.