Universities Report Less Minority Interest After Action to Ban Preferences
By PETER APPLEBOME
April, 1997
AUSTIN, Tex. -- After decisions to dismantle affirmative action programs at public universities in California and Texas, applications from blacks and Hispanic students are down significantly at both states' most prestigious universities and professional schools, leading to fears that the initiatives will result in a long-term decline in minority enrollment.
Following a Federal court decision in the Hopwood reverse- discrimination case here and the California Board of Regent's decision to ban affirmative action in admissions, both states are seeing sharp declines in minority applications, with the greatest drops in applications to medical and law schools and flagship campuses like the one here.
Students and college officials attribute the drop to tighter admissions standards, worries on the part of prospective students about a smaller minority presence on campus and the elimination of race-based scholarships.
Though many students say the new policies will not affect their college choices, others say they think the door to higher education is not as open as it once was.
"My mother would not allow me to apply to U.T. because of the Hopwood decision," said Tanya Holloway, an Austin high school senior who is black. "She didn't think I would get fair treatment there."
Total undergraduate applications to the campus here fell 13 percent, which officials attribute partly to a new essay required on the application. Applications from blacks fell 26 percent. Applications from Hispanics fell 23 percent.
The University of Texas Law School, against which Cheryl Hopwood and three other white students filed a lawsuit claiming they were not admitted because minorities got preferential treatment in admissions, saw applications from blacks fall 42 percent this year.
In California, though a record number of students applied to the state university system, minority applicants fell for the second year in a row. Applications rose 1.6 percent over all, but black applications fell 8.2 percent, Hispanic ones fell 3.7 percent and American Indian ones fell 9 percent.
Minority applications to medical school plummeted 23 percent this year.
The affirmative action ban goes into effect for professional schools this year and for undergraduate applicants next year. But education experts say it has received so much attention it is affecting students at both levels already.
Supporters and critics of affirmative action agree that the immediate result of ending the programs could be to reduce diversity at the top public universities of two of the nation's most diverse states.
"In general, many of our fears have been borne out," said the University of Texas president, Robert M. Berdahl, who this summer becomes Chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley. "We only have applications to go by for now, but the pattern we're seeing is very sobering. We're still committed to achieving diversity in education. I'm not saying it will be impossible, but we will lose ground, and it will be some time before we recover what we've lost."
At the University of Texas, whites make up 65 percent of the student body, Hispanic students 15 percent, blacks 4 percent and Asians 12 percent. Of the state's 18-year-olds, 51 percent are white, 32 percent Hispanic, 14 percent black and 2 percent Asian.
Experts outside the two states say it is clear that the Hopwood ruling last year and the new policy in California are affecting applications.
"There is no question in my mind that what's happening in both states is related to Hopwood and the Regents' decision," said Deborah Carter, associate director in the office of minorities in higher education at the American Council on Education.
But not everyone agrees on the repercussions. Ward Connerly, the University of California Regent who proposed the end to affirmative action, said the drop was expected and reflects the degree to which racial preferences unfairly shaped admissions.
"This is just basic logic," Mr. Connerly said. "If you've been given a substantial preference based on race and you take it away, the numbers are going to drop. But just because you're not going to get a preference doesn't mean you're not welcome."
He said that it was more important to focus on improving educational opportunities for blacks and Hispanics across the board, rather than on giving preferences to a few.
The Texas Attorney General, Dan Morales, who has been bitterly criticized for his narrow interpretation of what is allowed under the Hopwood ruling, said part of the blame should rest on the alarmist message being put out by Texas universities.
"What these university administrators ought to be saying is we are committed, we are steadfast, we are going to continue this march toward diversity regardless of whether Hopwood is out there," Mr. Morales said. "That is what should be communicated to these applicants instead of the predictions of doom and gloom, the predictions of resegregation."
Some minority students are torn, fearing a decrease in diversity and a lessening in their own prospects, but mindful that some will think being admitted under affirmative action programs tarnishes their own credentials.
"It scares me personally, because I wonder what it will mean for me," said Carolina Ornelas, a University of Texas senior who plans to apply to pharmacy school. "But then you wonder if you got in because of your record or because of race. So it helps and it hurts."
Education officials in both states say they are increasingly concerned about the long term.
"I think that a lot of people hostile to affirmative action who see our entering class next year might have second thoughts," said Michael Sharlot, dean of the University of Texas Law School. "We're a public law school with the function of preparing people to serve not just as providers of legal services but as civic leaders. For us to go from the leading provider of Mexican-American and black lawyers in the country to a vastly reduced role is just awful."
One of every 11 Mexican-American lawyers in the United States was trained at the University of Texas law school, Mr. Sharlot said.
This year, applications from Hispanic students are down 14 percent, matching the overall decline, while black applications are down 42 percent.
The affirmative action program at the Texas law school, like the University of California's program, had allowed for the admission of black and Hispanic students with lower entrance test scores and grade-point averages. Although the Hopwood case threw out any use of race as a consideration in admissions, the Texas Attorney General interpreted the ruling to also ban race-based scholarships. This, admissions officers say, has hindered their ability to compete for minority students.
In addition, officials say a new essay requirement probably dissuaded some potential undergraduates from applying. Bruce Walker, the university's admissions director, said the decline in minority applications was a marked departure from recent, relatively stable trends, but he was wary of drawing long-term lessons.
"We think some applicants got scared off by the essay," Mr. Walker said. "We expect the numbers to come back. How much they'll come back for minorities right now is anyone's guess."
It is not yet clear whether the application trends will translate into lower minority acceptances and enrollment.
Some black and Hispanic students bound for college are apparently applying instead to less prestigious state schools and to private ones, national education experts say.
"I looked back at our trends over the last 24 years," said Dr. Michael Drake, Associate Dean of Admissions at the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, where applications from underrepresented minorities dropped to 493 this year from 638 last year and 722 in 1995 "If you look at the drop from 722 to 493, that has never happened in our history."
Interviews in California and Texas with minority high school students thinking about college and with university students thinking about graduate and professional schools provide a wide range of responses.
Marlen Whitley, a black student recently elected as the new student body president at the University of Texas, said he planned to go to law school. Before the Hopwood ruling, he had Texas high on his list. Now he plans to look elsewhere so he can "get away from all the drama that's happened here."
Similarly, Bruce Rideaux, a senior from Beaumont, Tex., said that if he were applying to college now, he probably would not apply to the University of Texas.
"There are 50,000 students here and so few of them are black," Mr.Rideaux said.
"With all this going on, I probably would have gone to a predominantly black or a smaller university."
At Oakland Technical High School in California, Ernestina Gallegos, a Hispanic senior with a 3.65 grade point average, said she was applying to the elite schools in the University of California system. She said she doubted that the affirmative action debate would affect her chances.
"Sometimes affirmative action is kind of biased," Ms. Gallegos said. " I've seen kids with really low S.A.T.'s and G.P.A.'s get in while other kids who worked really hard got left out. I didn't think about it. It wouldn't be a problem for me whether or not affirmative action would be there."
But Michael Lampkins, a senior with a B plus average who is black, said he had always wanted to go to U.C.L.A., but now doubts he can get in. He is applying to historically black schools instead.
"I think the Regents are kind of going back to that good old separate but equal," Mr. Lampkins said. "Some of my friends are saying they're trying to turn U.C. back into a good-old- boys school."
What the ultimate impact on educational opportunity will be is unclear.
Still, Mr. Connerly, a fierce opponent of affirmative action, and Dr. Berdahl, a staunch defender, both agree that affirmative action addresses just part of the problem.
In Texas, Dr. Berdahl said, there are 36,000 18-year-old African- Americans. Of those, 24,000 graduate from high school, 12,000 go to school past high school, 6,000 take the Scholastic Assessment Test and only 1,000 get scores that make them competitive at the University of Texas.
"Clearly, if affirmative action at best can help one thirty-sixth of the kids, the only solution ultimately is to enlarge the number of kids in the pool," he said. "If society is saying affirmative action isn't the answer, then it's up to us to take ownership of the problem and enlarge the pool. In the end, that's the only answer."
(the above information was shamelessly stolen for eductional purposes. on the other hand, i paid 30 bucksfor one of applebome's books)