Voices
tions. That being said, my experience over the years has taught me
that institutions must do more
than just rely on affirmative action to do the job of diversifying
college campuses. It cannot be the
only thing used to provide equal
educational opportunities to students because, as we know, with
the banging of a justice’s gavel,
the entire existence of affirmative
action can change.
There are additional ways we
can provide educational opportunities to all student populations
while continuing a concentrated
effort to reach out to underserved
student populations. One example
is to also focus on the socioeconomic levels from which our students come and integrate that
information as part of the determining admissions process.
The Century Foundation recently released a report that supports this reasoning. Rather than
evaluating applicants based only
on race, the report recommends
that universities also look at
family income, the wealth of the
neighborhood from which a student comes and parental education level, among other factors.
“If college admissions officers
want to be fair—truly meritocrat-
DEVORAH
LIEBERMAN
HUFFINGTON
10.28.12
ic—they need to consider not only
a student’s raw academic credentials, but also what obstacles she
had to overcome to achieve them,”
said the report.
In advocating for the passage
of the Civil Rights Act, President
Lyndon Johnson sought equal opportunities for all. He knew that
those who are economically disadvantaged do not enjoy the same
access to higher education as do
students from more
affluent backgrounds.
Because a larger
As we
portion of minority
know, with
students reside in
the banging
households with lowof a gavel,
er incomes, affirmathe entire
tive action, in many
existence of
ways, has helped
affirmative
this country close
action can
its higher education
change.”
entrance gap among
students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
Focusing on providing equal
access to education is among one
of the highest priorities for leaders in higher education. The Pew
Research Center tells us that in
1970, the middle class earned 62
percent of the income in the country while the upper class earned
less than 30 percent. By 2010,