In an open letter to the University community released last night, University President John T. Casteen III emphasized the necessity of maintaining equal opportunity in admissions.
The letter, which was released to The Cavalier Daily, details from a historical perspective Casteen's analysis of considering race as a factor in admissions.
"Alongside other Virginia colleges and universities, we have worked over the years to remedy the brutal and specific costs ... of Virginia's history of racial segregation," Casteen said in the letter.
Although the University "operates within the rule of law," he said, one of the problems is that "no one is confident now what the law is."
Casteen, who was formerly the University's dean of admissions, said race is not the definitive criterion when admitting students and noted that SAT scores or grade-point-averages are not the only measures of success.
Earlier this month, University Board of Visitors member Terence P. Ross said "we are clearly in some cases reaching a little bit down our academic standards" to recruit black students.
Casteen, however, said in the letter that "no statistical or other evidence supports the notion that any defined group of our students is unqualified to be here."
Office of African-American Affairs Dean M. Rick Turner agreed, and said Casteen's attempt to educate the community on the issue is commendable.
"He can see the University of Virginia situation a lot clearer than most of us," Turner said. "I hope the education he is trying to give is seen by the Board of Visitors who seem to be mired in a lack of full education as to how an institution goes about putting a class together."
Casteen defended admissions policies that consider many qualities in students, such as athletic talents, unique circumstances students had to endure, and other special talents.
"A student body selected on the numbers alone would be largely out of state," he said. "Most would be white, native speakers of English, who did well in all subjects ... on the extreme end of the spectrum, we might all have the same conversation, value the same achievements, think the same way."
In January, the Washington-based Center for Equal Opportunity released a study claiming a black student with the same SAT score as a white student is 45 times more likely to gain admissions to the University.
Even if there is a difference in SAT scores, it is not significant, Casteen said.
"Yes, there is a disparity between the SAT scores of white and black students, but one well below the 1.96 standard deviations that define a statistically significant difference," he said.
Even so, CEO Director of Communications Ric Anderson said the University should not consider race in admissions.
"It's discrimination and discrimination is wrong," Anderson said. "The writing on the wall is clear that the judicial process views discrimination in any instance as wrong."
Despite the varying opinions on the subject, the University community should strive towards intelligent discussions, Casteen said.
"Let us conduct the discourse with the intention of generating more light and less heat," he said.
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