[Myrddin]

Just for perspective, the affirmative action set asides used on the UC system in the early 70's were a total disaster. The University of California set aside 5% for affirmative action recruiting (excluding 5% of well qualified candidates who weren't selected on the basis of a racial preference). Only 2% of that 5% recruited were successful to graduation day. The students were recruited into a highly competitive environment where they were academically overwhelmed. Had they gone to a less academically voracious environment, they might have survived long enough to finish a degree. There is value is having institutions that are academic hotbeds and others that are slower paced. The fiction that we are all created equal is a crock. We need a little of both kinds to provide people an opportunity to succeed.

[tbw2]

I’ve read about the historically black college leaders who decry affirmative action, that they’d have graduated a science major whereas the black students come out with useless black history degrees from big name colleges instead.