Students torn over affirmative action
By Nyshicka Jordan
Staff Reporter

It is a difficult reality not knowing whether merit or race was the reason she was denied acceptance and placed on the wait list into the University of Michigan’s law school, senior English and political science major Jenny Specht said Wednesday.

The Supreme Court heard opening arguments Tuesday regarding whether Michigan’s affirmative action policies are unconstitutional. Their decision is expected in July.

Specht is white and said because of the controversy over the universities’ policy that rewards minority applicants with extra points in admissions she is skeptical about why she was not accepted.

“I wish that I knew that they turned me down solely on my merits,” Specht said.

Specht said this was a difficult time to apply to Michigan because its affirmative action policies are getting so much attention. She said Michigan has a compelling argument on why it uses affirmative action, but that the policy should be different.

“Once you have a college degree everyone does have a level playing field,” Specht said.

According to an Associated Press article, the Bush administration’s top lawyer argued Tuesday in the Supreme Court that Michigan’s policy “is a thinly disguised quota.”

However, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, considered to be a swing voter, questioned why race could not also be included among the many choices that law schools decide on when admitting students.

Specht said she now plans to attend law school at Cornell University, which claims to not have a racial point system. According to the “Complete Book of Law Schools,” Cornell has 25 percent minority enrollment compared to Michigan’s 23 percent.

Specht said these statistics make her wonder why Michigan is so much more aggressive in its policy.

Other TCU students who plan to attend graduate and professional schools are split when it comes to the use of affirmative action in schools.

Jenna Spain, a senior political science major, said affirmative action is still needed, but not forever.

“I am all about diversity, and all things being equal,” Spain said. “I don’t think that you can necessarily make a diverse community without some kind of intent to do it.”

Spain said things are not yet equal for all groups, but this is the first generation where there is more opportunity for all. She said the next generation will then have more opportunity for such things such as equal education because of this generation’s advantages.

Rodney Thomas, a sophomore religion major, agrees that affirmative action is still needed, but that it should end at some point. He said it is good the policy is not solely reliant on race and that it is necessary to make up for disadvantages such as educational inconsistencies.

“It’s fair not because of race, but because people get points for things such as being related to an alumni too,” Thomas said. “It’s a complicated point system. It’s not just if you’re black or white, it’s a lot more to it.”

However, Nick James, a sophomore political science major, disagrees with the policy.

“I agree with affirmative action if you use it appropriately,” James said. “But if you use it in the way it has been used in our society then I think that it is unconstitutional.”

James said if the Supreme Court rules against the current policy students would then get into schools based on their achievements instead of the color of their skin.

n.d.jordan@tcu.edu