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Letters

Should Race Be a Factor in College Admissions?

To the Editor:

Re “Being Black in Physics Class,” by Jedidah C. Isler (Op-Ed, Dec. 17), in response to a recent Supreme Court case about considering race in college admissions:

There is no doubt, as Dr. Isler reminds us, that race has nothing to do with intellect and that all of us should have access to avenues to explore our potential. To imply that anyone must justify his or her membership in the academic community by offering up a “unique perspective” is indeed absurd.

Colleges and universities provide much more than intellectual preparation when their campuses house young people from a variety of backgrounds. Here is where the need to inject “diversity” is very real. On a residential campus, students will learn about the world simply by befriending people they might never meet at home.

I work with teenagers in a relatively homogeneous, affluent community, and I know that many of these kids crave the disruption to this idyll that college will bring. They don’t want a roommate just like themselves! Our kids will grow much more fully in an environment that forces them to establish an identity separate from the stereotype of privilege.

In our increasingly stratified society, college can be the crucible for social change by forging bonds among individuals that transcend race or class, and thus admissions should ensure that this mix is achieved.

CAROLINE HANSSEN

Kentfield, Calif.

The writer is a writing and learning specialist.

To the Editor:

I believe that Jedidah C. Isler willfully misunderstands Chief Justice John Roberts Jr.’s question: “What unique perspective does a minority student bring to a physics class?”

I say “willfully” because Justice Roberts’s point is pretty obvious. He is not saying that a minority student can bring no new perspective to a physics class. He is saying: What new perspective can such a student bring by virtue of his minority status? In other words, what has blackness, whiteness or any other racial or ethnic feature to do with physics?

JOHN STADDON

Durham, N.C.

The writer is emeritus professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University.

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Amherst College.Credit...Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times

To the Editor:

Jedidah C. Isler uses her personal experience to condemn those who support the mismatch theory. The mismatch theory does not propose that no blacks with a science goal should attend selective colleges, only that those who are admitted with significantly lower academic skills than the student population would have done better if they had attended less selective undergraduate programs as Ms. Isler did. She benefited from the supporting programs at the historically black colleges that produce more black scientists who later completed a Ph.D. than all of the very selective colleges combined.

Many of the students in the Minority Access to Research Careers program at the City University of New York similarly benefit, gaining the mentoring and support needed to pursue science careers. Most of these students would have been overmatched if they had been admitted to selective colleges in order to fulfill diversity goals. They would have floundered in the freshman science and calculus courses, discouraging them from pursuing their career goals.

ROBERT CHERRY

Brooklyn

The writer is a professor of economics at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center.

To the Editor:

Re “When Race Is Left at the College Door” (Op-Ed, Dec. 16):

We were surprised to read Sigal Alon’s assertion that there is conclusive evidence that class-based affirmative action won’t produce racial and ethnic diversity in the United States. A large body of research suggests otherwise.

It is true that class-based affirmative action won’t replicate current levels of racial diversity, until we adjust admissions decisions to factor in the additional disadvantages faced by African-American and Latino students, such as growing up in high-poverty neighborhoods and having low wealth. When those additional factors are included, current levels of African-American and Latino representation at selective colleges can be replicated, as research at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce has shown.

Moreover, Ms. Alon’s own research finds that if the least academically prepared students at selective colleges were replaced by academically qualified but economically disadvantaged students, racial, ethnic and socioeconomic diversity would all increase without sacrificing academic quality.

Currently, rich students (in the top quarter economically) outnumber poor students (in the bottom quarter) at selective colleges by 14 to 1. Class-based affirmative action that is focused on specific disadvantages can change that, and would promote a healthy racial and ethnic diversity on campus without decreasing academic quality.

ANTHONY P. CARNEVALE

JEFF STROHL

RICHARD D. KAHLENBERG

Washington

Mr. Carnevale is director and Mr. Strohl is director of research at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Mr. Kahlenberg is a senior fellow at the Century Foundation.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 18 of the New York edition with the headline: Using Race in College Admissions. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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