Donna Stern is an advocate for “By Any Means Necessary,” a pro-affirmative action organization. She stated that the Michigan ban on affirmative action through the support of 58% of voters was attributed to “white men voting to preserve white privilege.” She, then, compared the situation to the elimination of the Jim Crow laws, saying that if the electorate of Alabama and Mississippi was responsible the Jim Crow laws would not have been eliminated.  Does this statement imply that college admissions and Jim Crow laws carry the same legal consequences? Should the college admission process be concerned with same “rights” involved with Jim Crow? This made me consider the underlying principle of Jim Crow, which created the idea of “separate but equal.” Try applying that phrase the current issue, does affirmative action condemn “separate but equal” or does it promote it?

All of these readings discuss the different approaches used to promote student diversity, including race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and demographics. If all of these factors are being considered for an applicant, how much focus remains on academics and other related activities?

This idea of “critical mass” implies that a certain proportional student population be achieved to include minorities. According to supporters, this “critical mass” is needed to keep minority students from feeling isolated in the classroom. How is this to be effectively proliferated considering the various course offerings (all with different times/sections) and the different major choices and requirements for students? Do you think “critical mass” is better suited in the K-12 environment, where there is less variation in students’ scheduling and choices?

After reading about affirmative action and the various implications of it, how do you think this affects non-traditional students? How does affirmative action affect “non-traditional” schools, such as conservatories?

When the University of Michigan faced the challenge of adjusting the admission process, they decided to add an essay about diversity to their application. They hoped to use this to create diversity on their campus while adhering to the “legal” race-neutral processes. Not only does this occur at UMichigan but the 2012-13 Common Application included following question as an essay prompt option: “A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.” Recently the 2013-14 application reworded the questions and the “diversity” essay is not included. How does this affect colleges in their attempts to achieve diversity? Do you think students are capable to understanding diversity and effectively expressing it in an essay? Could placing the expression of diversity in an essay make it more difficult for lower-achieving students to define their diverse background to colleges?