Editor,
A student who claims to be hurt when race is an admission consideration looks at university admissions through the opaque lens clouded by the elite of this country. As much as 12 percent to 15 percent of students entering elite colleges are African-American or Hispanic, and these students meet at least the minimum standards of the school. This might be a travesty to a middle-class, white student who believes one of these students of color took his or her spot, but look closer at the numbers that are not reported.
Affirmative action is for the rich, and connected is a topic elite institutions do not want to address, and those with the power to question this reprehensible practice remain silent. The reason they will not speak about this issue is because the children of the powerful benefit from the silence that surrounds legacy admissions. The trend has been to reserve 20 percent of spaces in elite universities to legacies. Research has found about 15 percent of freshmen enrolled at U.S. elite institutions are white
students who did not meet the minimum enrollment requirements of the institution. The gentleman's C becomes the grade of the dim because acceptance was based on legacy or power.
Does a certain president come to mind? White, middle-class students demand institutions remove race as a criteria for acceptance to a college or university because it is unfair. What is unfair is to continue to blame those without power for something they cannot control. The fault does not belong to the handful of underrepresented students given a chance. Place the blame on the powerful who demand spots remain open for the children who were raised with every advantage but chose to coast through rather than study.
Students who are upset because they did not gain acceptance into an elite institution would be better served if they focused their energy on the dim, rich kids who fail to meet the minimum requirements but rely on mommy and daddy. End legacies, and more spots will open for those students who work hard and deserve to be accepted by their first choice.
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Isaac Padilla
UNM student
