Real Talk on Affirmative Action

Hey y'all! I've heard about affirmative action and understand that it's some kind of policy for ensuring representation, but I'm kinda cloudy on the specifics. Could someone provide an example or breakdown for how this applies to the college admissions process?

Affirmative Action was a policy previously used by colleges in the United States that was designed to address histories of institutionalized disadvantages experienced by certain groups. The key idea was to promote more representatives from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, as well as women, within their student body.

For instance, suppose a college's admission is historically skewed towards certain privileged groups, causing other groups to be underrepresented. Affirmative Action allows admissions officers to potentially factor a student's racial or ethnic background to correct this imbalance and create a more diverse class.

However, it's important to note that it never guaranteed admission based purely on someone’s race or ethnicity. Grades, test scores, essays, extracurriculars, and other factors were still the primary considerations, with race or ethnicity only being a potential additional factor.

As of June 2023, however, the Supreme Court ruled that colleges may no longer practice race-conscious admissions, i.e., Affirmative Action. While colleges can no longer use race as an admissions factor, they can, and many still do, consider socio-economic status and other factors that relate to educational disadvantage. Additionally, they can still consider an individual's racial or ethnic identity if it's relevant to their personal experience or perspective, such as in the context of an essay where a student talks about how their experiences with their identity have shaped them.

Remember, even without affirmative action, colleges consistently aim to build diverse classes of students with a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and talents, as this richness contributes to a more robust learning environment. Also, colleges are committed to access and equity, ensuring that students from all backgrounds have the opportunity to access higher education, so policies and practices around these concepts continually evolve.