Of course it means admitting students who would not otherwise qualify. That’s the point. This is quota driven engineering of outcome by admitting some students of a given race who would not otherwise match up against other students of a different race who have better credentials.
If that is what he meant and what he was referring to, he did not explain it well at all. That’s not the way I read it in my head and it came across to me as condescending. As you explain it, I agree.