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Wolff At The Door: Do Race Preferences In Admissions Require Race Preferences In Graduation?

According to the ?mismatch? phenomenon analyzed by UCLA law professor Richard Sander (and discussed here too many times to cite), applicants to law schools who are preferentially admitted with much lower grades and test scores than others in their entering classes tend to cluster near the bottom of their classes, graduate at a much lower rate, and pass the bar at a much lower rate.

I have also discussed here too many times to cite (but I will anyway) the fact that the American Bar Association for all practical purposes requires law schools to achieve ?diversity? by employing racial preferences in admissions. (See here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here)

Now, with those two facts in mind, consider whether there are warning signals coming out of the predicament of St. Mary?s College, a small college near San Francisco, as reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education, based on this article in the Contra Costa Times.

St. Mary?s College of California has received a letter from its accreditor threatening to sanction the institution if it does not make more progress toward resolving unspecified racial issues on its campus....

In the letter, Ralph A. Wolff, president of the commission that accredits senior colleges for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, said the commission was concerned about a lack of ?tangible results? on concerns it first raised with the college in 1990 and re-emphasized in 2004. The college needs to quickly develop a plan for reducing racism and sexism on the campus, he said.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Wolff indicated that one of the deficient ?tangible results? that concerns him

is that the college is not doing enough to even out graduation rates.... While the graduation rate for white students is 73 percent, for African American students, the rate is 56 percent.

Would it meet the Western Association?s standard if St. Mary?s ?evened out? the graduation rate by raising the graduation requirements for whites and Asians so that fewer of them graduated? Meanwhile, across the Bay, at Berkeley, and down the coast, at UCLA, the graduation rate for minority students has increased dramatically since preferential admissions has been eliminated. Does the Western Association like that solution to the graduation rate problem?

Will the American Bar Association, which requires ?diversity? in the entering classes of law schools, also require a corresponding amount of ?diversity? among graduates? Among those who pass state bar associations? If not, why not? If colorblind admission is unacceptable because it does not yield the requisite ?tangible results,? why should the ABA allow blind grading of exams (where the professor does not know the identity of the student), since low grades of the preferentially admitted contribute mightily to low class rankings and low graduation rates.

There are other problems at St. Mary?s that may have implications for the accreditation process at other institutions. An article in the San Jose Mercury News quotes the new provost, who

acknowledged that minority professors are asked to serve on race- and diversity-focused committees more often than white colleagues, which contributes to feelings of discrimination.

It would not be surprising if some minority students who were admitted at least in part to provide ?diversity? think they were admitted at least in part to provide ?diversity,? and thus feel that an implicit obligation to provide ?diversity? discriminates against them.

Full post as published by Discriminations on April 04, 2008 (boomark / email).