Drop Affirmative Action, Focus on Students’ Unique Qualities

One year ago, higher education was surprised by U.S. Supreme Court rulings that effectively put an end to racial preferencing in the college admissions process — commonly referred to as affirmative action.

The Court held in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College 600 U.S. 181 (2023), and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina et al. (Docet No. 21-707) that considering an applicant’s race in making an admissions decision to advance diversity goals is unconstitutional.

It’s too early to assess whether the dire predictions for minority enrollment at highly selective schools — ground zero for affirmative action — have been realized.

But educating Black Americans has long been a priority for some in philanthropy.

And recently, recognizing Juneteenth gives us the chance to reflect on how philanthropy can help students of color overcome obstacles to education and how we can approach true diversity in a post-affirmative action world.

Highly selective schools can still employ other methods to find students they believe will enrich the diversity (broadly defined) of their student bodies after affirmative action.

The high court warned that “the student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race.”

For example, colleges can recruit students from rural or urban high schools, create programs for nontraditional students, such as those who worked after high school, and guarantee admission to public colleges for students who graduated in the top percentile of their class.

Such an individualized approach actually reflects true diversity, which considers all the facets of an individual beyond race or gender.

For anyone interested in providing opportunities to those in need, a key challenge going forward is how to widen the pipeline of minority students who are prepared for the rigors of higher education, especially at highly selective schools.

To truly get beyond the affirmative action preference of race, we must value all students for their intelligence, strengths, character, diverse viewpoints, personal experiences and other unique qualities.

Recent research by Stanford University shows while racial achievement gaps are narrowing, these gaps are still present and can be traced to a child’s early educational experiences, which provide the opportunity to develop “social, emotional and academic capabilities.”

So, if the foundation of academic and social success begins in childhood, how do we effectively cultivate early educational development for Black youth and those from all backgrounds who come from a struggling family or area?

The problem is not a new one, and a look back to how philanthropy provided opportunities in education is a good lesson for how it can help now.

Following slavery, the nation suddenly had to address the massive challenge of millions of uneducated people.

In the Jim Crow South, public resources were unequally distributed between segregated Black and white schools, leaving educational opportunities for Blacks woefully inadequate. In 1870, eight of 10 Blacks were illiterate.

By 1930, that proportion had plummeted to fewer than two out of 10, in good part due to a sweeping privately funded education program. Julius Rosenwald, the son of Jewish immigrants and part owner of Sears, Roebuck & Co., partnered with storied Black educator Booker T. Washington to help finance the construction of over 5,000 schools for Black children, which would eventually benefit more than 600,000 students.

In addition to schoolhouses, the Rosenwald and Washington partnership created teaching opportunities and built structures such as libraries and vocational training facilities.

Rosenwald’s seed capital was paired with funds raised by communities in partnerships to construct the buildings the counties then committed to maintaining.

The results were stunning.

By 1934, more than a fourth of Black children in the South were taught at a Rosenwald school. The Rosenwald schools were credited with “at least 30% of the sizable educational gains of Blacks during the 1910s and 1920s,” according to a 2009 Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago analysis.

Generations of Blacks were set on the path to lasting opportunity as the nation eventually evolved to fully embrace desegregation and integration.

We can take some lessons from Rosenwald and Washington’s approach to funding Black education.

First, philanthropy should be localized by engaging the community, such as families, businesses and universities, as well as cooperating with local education systems to find solutions.

Donors may provide seed funding for startup programs such as those aimed at high-achieving disadvantaged students.

By partnering with local governments, they can ensure innovative solutions are sustained and scaled.

Philanthropy should not view education funding through the binary lens of private versus public. Supporting school choice efforts frees many Black students to attend better schools and can lead to better outcomes for them.

However, we cannot abandon the reforms needed in public schools — the only option for many students, especially in some regions.

Philanthropy is still well suited to provide targeted funding to expand educational attainment and workforce development.

Some high-achieving Black and minority students may need academic support to prepare for the rigorous course loads or funds to pay for their tuition.

For example, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation spends millions of dollars supporting programs nationwide that help high-achieving students without means gain admission and thrive in highly selective schools.

The Connelly Foundation teamed up with business leaders to support a private Catholic college preparatory school for disadvantaged students of all faiths. These are just a few examples of how philanthropy is answering the call.

Let’s not ring the death knell for Blacks and minorities at highly selective colleges and universities. There are still many high-performing minority students able to compete regardless of racial preferencing.

However, to expand the pipeline of such students and disadvantaged kids, philanthropy can target funds to pilot or expand tested solutions that better educate and prepare students of all colors, especially those of least means.

Patrice Lee Onwuka is a political commentator and director of the Center for Economic Opportunity at the Independent Women’s Forum. She is also an adjunct senior fellow with the Philanthropy Roundtable and a Tony Blankley Fellow at The Steamboat Institute. Follow her on Twitter: @PatricePinkFile Read Patrice Lee Onwuka’s Reports — More Here.