VOA教育报道2023--US Colleges Plan for Court’s Decision on Affirmative Action

US Colleges Plan for Court’s Decision on Affirmative Action

American colleges and universities are expecting an important decision from the U.S. Supreme¹ Court involving a policy called affirmative action.

The decision will come by the end of June.

Affirmative action generally describes the idea that it is good for society to favor people who come from groups thought to be disadvantaged or discriminated² against. Colleges and employers often think about affirmative action issues when making decisions.

College and university officials started considering race a lot in the 1960s and 1970s. They wanted the racial and ethnic³ backgrounds of students at the schools where they worked to match those of America's high school students.

Last year, the nation's highest court agreed to hear the appeal by a group called Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel⁴ Hill. The group accused the universities of discriminating⁵ against applicants⁶ based on race in violation⁷ of federal law or the U.S. Constitution.

Legal experts believe the Supreme Court will say colleges and universities can no longer consider race when choosing students.

Past experience

The Supreme Court first ruled in 1978 that race could be considered in college admission. But in the same case, it banned setting aside a percentage or number of students for admission based on race alone. In 2003, the court again permitted race to be considered to create "a diverse educational environment."

In 1998, voters in California approved a measure barring public colleges and universities from considering race in admitting students.

In 2020, a University of California, Berkeley doctoral student released a paper that found a drop in the number of Black, Hispanic, and Native American students who were accepted to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Berkeley. A UCLA law professor disputed those findings.

However, Californians again voted to approve the ban in 2020.

Value of diversity

Some American universities believe an important part of the educational experience includes meeting and going to class with a diverse group of people.

So those who work on college admissions are thinking of ways to keep their student body diverse without asking students' skin color or family backgrounds.

Seth Allen is the head of admissions at Pomona College in California. He said, "We cannot afford as a nation to (go back) on our goals to create an educated and equitable⁸ society." He said universities need to work together to be sure they are not "furthering the enrollment⁹ gap among different groups of students."

Schools are thinking of ways to advertise themselves to minority groups. They have made applications less costly¹⁰ for families who do not have much money. And they have promised to make stronger connections with high schools and community colleges that have mostly minority students.

At Rice University, in Houston, Texas, school leaders want to think more about the writing examples that students send in with their application. They believe paying more attention to the written answers will help them choose a diverse group of students.

The president at Skidmore College in New York state said the school will make good connections with high school counselors¹². Those counselors will then advise students to apply.

Universities are already making it easier for students to apply. Many schools will consider students who do not send scores from tests such as the SAT or ACT. They are also trying to increase financial awards for students who might not usually consider a costly university.

The school leaders who talked with the Reuters news agency said they expect the Supreme Court's decision to prompt appeals and new legal cases.

Danielle Holley is a legal expert who is currently the head of the law school at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Later this year, she will start as the president of Mount Holyoke University in Massachusetts.

Holley said the court's decision will start "a whole new generation of lawsuits¹³."

Writing workshops

Yvonne Berumen is vice¹⁴ president of admissions at Pitzer College in California. She said her group may invite students who do not normally think of Pitzer to an essay workshop, with the hopes of getting them to apply.

Kent Devereaux is president of Goucher College in Maryland. He said organizations in low-income communities who identify students who could do well in college are going to be more important than before.

"We're seeing each year a bigger percentage of our students come from those...organizations," Devereaux said.

Even military schools, such as the U.S. Air Force Academy, are getting ready for the Supreme Court's decision. Colonel Arthur Primas, Jr. is the academy's admissions director. Primas said the plan is to visit schools in parts of the U.S. with a lot of minority students and ask them to apply. Students need to ask their local member of congress for a nomination¹⁵ if they want to go to the Air Force Academy.

Primas said the academy has a "long tradition of actively¹⁶ recruiting diverse candidates...but we're going to have to be really expansive."

Words in This Story

disadvantaged –adj. lacking money or education necessary to have a certain position in society

diverse –adj. made up of people different from each other

afford –v. to be able to pay for something

equitable –adj. dealing¹⁷ with someone equally with other people

enrollment –n. the process of being admitted to a school

gap –n. something that appears to be a mismatch in the numbers, percentages or rates related to one group compared to another group

counselor¹¹ –n. a person who gives advice about educational issues

encourage –v. to cause people to want to do something

prompt –v. to cause to happen

recruit –v. to persuade people to join a group, especially the military or business organizations

expansive –adj. to do something widely; to cover or include many things

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

5 discriminating   

a.有辨别能力的

参考例句：

• Due caution should be exercised in discriminating between the two. 在区别这两者时应该相当谨慎。
• Many businesses are accused of discriminating against women. 许多企业被控有歧视妇女的做法。

6 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

7 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

8 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。

9 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

10 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

11 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

12 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

13 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

14 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

15 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

16 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

17 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。