Monday, October 08, 2012

Guinier: Affirmative Action Assessment Goes Down Wrong, Narrow Path - Higher Education

Guinier: Affirmative Action Assessment Goes Down Wrong, Narrow Path - Higher Education: As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to soon hear the case about whether race should be allowed to be used in college admissions, the attendant debate has caused many to lose sight of the broader purpose of higher education.

That was the criticism that Harvard law professor Lani Guinier levied Thursday during a panel discussion titled “Will Affirmative Action in College Admission Survive.”

Guinier was joined on the panel by Ward Connerly, a former University of California Regent and a longtime critic of race-conscious affirmative action.

Guinier said too much weight has been given to college entrance exam scores and public opinion about the merits of race-conscious affirmative action.