It appears that Senate Bill 6268 died in the higher education committee this week. It would have amended I-200 to allow race to be considered as a factor in the admissions process for state colleges.
Unfortunately, the death of this bill simply maintains admissions policies that don’t look at students holistically. Currently, state colleges are prohibited from considering a student’s racial identity in the admissions process. Yet, ignoring a student’s racial identity eliminates consideration of a characteristic that for many students is important to their overall identity and experience.
Ignoring race as a consideration in admissions processes creates an uneven process in which characteristics of an individual’s identity are only selectively considered.
The fact remains that state schools like the UW don’t have student racial distributions that accurately reflect that of the state or the nation. I-200 only perpetuates this problem, making it more difficult for schools to ensure an academic environment that produces a diversity of thought and experiences.
Ultimately, I-200 only maintains larger economic and social inequalities along racial lines.
Voices of the university communities aren’t being heard. Students at the UW, for example, seem to support affirmative action policies--their representative body, the Associated Students of the UW, officially supports affirmative action.
The University of Michigan case affirmed the legality of affirmative action policies and their benefits to public schools. It’s time for us to re-evaluate I-200.
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