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August 29, 2003
An Essay on My Blackness
I am pleased to have been informed that the University of Michigan has done the common sense thing which is re-rig their admissions process to something a bit less automated. They have decided to use essay questions instead of a point system to evaluate the various flavors of students to admit into their diversity stew.
Inevitably, people will count noses, but all should be satisfied that what is ineffable about ethnicity will not be so mechanistically assigned points. The school will hire a score of additional readers to parse through the thousands of undergraduate applications.
The students only get 250 words to say something worthwhile vis a vis 'diversity' which seems to me to be a bit more demeaning than 20 points automatically assigned. I can understand the University's desire to use points. I suppose this is as good a compromise as can be expected.
(NYT)
Though it still asks openly about race, the new application is longer, seeking more essays from students and more information from high schools. Mr. Courant speculated that "we'll know more about these students than any other class."Without points, though, some amount of personal bias is inevitable, educators said.
"In essence, it becomes a more subjective review," said Mabel G. Freeman, assistant vice president for undergraduate admissions at Ohio State University, in Columbus. Her office also used points until this summer. Doing away with that system will take "more staff, more readers and more money," Ms. Freeman said, though she is not sure how much more.
Opponents will now have to single out essays that will be leaked to them in order to show that Affirmative Action oppresses. Who knows, we may find another Paul Kelly Tripplehorn.
UPDATE: Real Essays on My Blackness
The Existential Qualification - 1993
Stone Temple Pilots & The End of My Blackness - 1995
Interview With the Boohab - 1998
The Opening Salvo - 2002
Posted by mbowen at August 29, 2003 11:24 AM
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Comments
Thanks for your efforts. I've added you to my "Weblogs of Distinction." But I was hoping you really would write such an essay. I really like your other posts, BTW.
I'm planning to start posting some more of my own artwork but I'm trying to decide how to select subjects which contribute to my anti-imperialist message. The art definitely makes the site more interesting--more so, IMO, than photos do.
Posted by: James R MacLean at August 29, 2003 02:50 PM