The new summer program proposed by the University to prepare certain minority middle and high school students for University life has received mixed reactions.
The proposed program would have the University recruit 700 academically gifted, economically disadvantaged minority students after their eighth-grade year.
Thereafter, these students would attend a two-week session every summer until college where they would be taught lessons about computers, standardized tests and some academic aspects of the University.
Board of Visitors member Terence P. Ross, who is heading the committee that proposed this program, said such a program would help "certain segments of our society that are not doing well on standardized tests."
"I think it's very good to target and identify at-risk students, to work with them and train them," Faculty Senate Chairman David T. Gies said.
The program has received similar reaction from Student Council members.
"I think [the program] is great. It's just another outlet for minority students to be attracted to the University," Student Council President Taz Turner said.
Despite no immediate change in current affirmative action admissions policies at the University, there has been speculation about the future of affirmative action as a result of similar alternative recruiting programs.
"Any effort that you make to increase minority participation is affirmative action. And that's what this new program will do," Ross said. "There is the illegal way and the legal way of implementing the affirmative action. The illegal way admits students on a certain quota system, and the legal way is more positive - where other measures are used."
The other measures include applicants' economic backgrounds, the learning facilities of the school the applicant attended, the educational system that their high schools followed, and how many previous generations in their family attended college.
There are some concerns, however, that the new program may become a viable alternative to using race as a factor in the admission process.
But some student leaders disagree.
"I don't think such a program can be an alternative to affirmative action policies," Black Fraternal Council Chairman Michael McPheeters said. "The admissions office uses many different factors, so eliminating just the racial factor doesn't make sense."
"Right now, just the way it is, without anything else added, this program actually sounds so beneficial," he said. "It seems like an excellent program to help minority students to compete better. But it definitely can't replace affirmative action policies right now."
Indian Students Association President Shruti Chandra agreed with McPheeters.
"Affirmative action gives many people opportunities that they definitely deserve," Chandra said. "Some people are disadvantaged and need a break, and if not given one, they would be stuck in a loophole. By taking away affirmative action policies, we would be taking away a lot of opportunities away from people. And that's just not fair."
But the new program and affirmative action policies will be unconnected, Ross said.
"The Board of Visitors don't want to make the University of Virginia a lily-white, all-male university. We are committed to diversity," he said. "We have dramatically increased the budget of the University so that certain students can get ahead."
Addressing current University admissions standards, Julian Bond, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chairman and University lecturer, said "U.Va. can be proud of the efforts it has made so far in creating a diverse student body. It would be a tragic mistake if they abandoned those efforts in the face of threats."
Ross emphasized the difference between the program and the elimination of affirmative action.
"Elimination of affirmative action and this new program are two different stories," Ross said.
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