Shameful Occurrences
While rummaging though our files in search of highlights to include in this anniversary edition, we also came across many, many shameful occurrences. Any reputable 15-year assessment of Black issues in higher education would be incomplete without at least a mention of some of these ignominious episodes. This is by no means a comprehensive list, and while we’re certain our readers will think of others, we thought the following 15 were worth noting:
1) Do as I say, not as I did Ordinarily this is sound advice from an elder who recognizes the error of his or her youthful ways. But the aphorism strikes a sour note when it comes from people who are quick to point out the flaws of a system only after they’ve reaped the benefits of it. In the past 15 years, a coterie of affirmative action beneficiaries have been among its most vociferous, latter-day critics. Among these, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, U.C. Regent Ward Connerly, former U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights director Michael Williams, and professors Thomas Sowell and Shelby Steel. Their criticism of a system that has benefited thousands of African Americans, women, and other people of color, by enabling them to attend institutions that might otherwise have turned them away, would perhaps be less redolent if a reasonable alternative were proffered. Or if the inequities that led to the creation of affirmative action were no longer at play. Besides, has anyone heard these gentlemen say they were sorry for the opportunities they’ve personally enjoyed as a consequence of affirmative action?
2) Testing Woes In the past 15 years, most experts have come to agree that the biggest reason underrepresented minority students score, on average, lower than their White and Asian peers on college entrance exams is their lack of access to and participation in college-prep courses. African American and Latino students are (20.2 percent and 19.8 percent, respectively) less likely to be placed in college-prep tracks than their White peers (26.9 percent). On the SAT, the score disparity averages around 200 points. Only about 5,000 of the roughly 224,000 students (2 percent) who score 1200 or better on the SAT are African American (see Oct. 1, 1998 edition). Preparation for college entrance exams also involves taking preliminary tests. According to the College Board, African American students who take the PSAT have average SAT I scores that are 104 points above the averages of Black students who don’t take it.
Still, expanding the numbers of students who take any of these tests is an ongoing struggle. Though African Americans’ representation among college-bound seniors taking the SAT I has increased in recent years (from 8.2 in 1987 to 9.8 percent in 1998 according to The College Board), they continue to be underrepresented relative to their status among the traditional, college-age (18-24) population (14.3percent). The reason testing is such a big deal, is that many colleges and universities aren’t using them in the way they were designed to be used: as one of several factors to considered. Declining Black and Latino admissions at selective institutions where race-sensitive admissions practices have been banned, suggest that these tests are being used as a heavyweight proxy for merit, overriding other important indicators such as stellar grade point averages.
3) Worth-Less Grants Even though the average Pell grant award has more than doubled since 1977, the grant’s actual worth has declined by approximately 50 percent. Over the past two decades, the average Pell grant declined by 23 percent — adjusting for inflation — while college prices rose by 49 percent and family incomes crept up by just 10 percent. Not surprisingly, the trend is having a disproportionately detrimental affect on minority students. (See Black Issues, Dec. 10, 1998, pg. 16)
4) Women as Second Class Citizens
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology acknowledged in the spring of 1999, that a pattern of systemic discrimination has existed for years against female faculty in the school of science, one of the university’s five colleges. The discriminatory treatment manifested itself in everything from salaries and promotions, to office space and access to research money (see Black Issues, April 15, 1999).
5) Winners Can Be Losers Everybody loves a winner and colleges and universities are quick to boast when their athletic teams win championships. But rarely do they point out the abhorrent graduation rates among the athletes in their high profile, revenue-producing sports — especially their Black male student athletes. In general, collegiate coaches are given much greater incentives and rewards for winning championships than they are for improving the graduation rates among their players. Graduation rates among the nation’s top 25 football colleges are a perfect example of this misplaced priority. As was reported in the Jan. 21, 1999 edition of Black Issues, among the nation’s top 25 football schools, only four have student athlete graduation rates exceeding 70 percent. The average is 56 percent. And while six schools have Black male student athlete graduation rates exceeding 70 percent, the average is 46 percent. The University of Arkansas has the dubious distinction of being the worst of the lot, with a graduation rate among Black male student athletes of 6 percent.
