Indiana University Admissions Plan Will Hurt Minorities, Says Professor
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.
A civil rights attorney and visiting Indiana University professor says a proposal to raise admission standards would prevent poor and minority students from enrolling.
Alvin Chambliss, who fought for 25 years to desegregate Mississippi colleges and universities in the Ayers vs. Fordice case, says IU’s proposal to prefer SAT scores of more than 1,012 — the state average — for Indiana high school students far exceeds the 856 SAT average he calculated for the state’s Black students.
The SAT goal works against efforts to diversify the campus, he concludes.
“Raising the admission standards first before the quality assurances are put in place is not sound education policy. You need to reconsider and make sure that you look not just at student quality, you look at faculty quality, you look at funding quality, look at the other conditions,” he says.
Bloomington faculty voted last month to increase the admissions standards. The university’s trustees have not yet voted on the plan.
