Racial disparities remain the most daunting challenge to equity in American education, according William G. Bowen, the 2004 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Distinguished Lecturer, who concluded his three-part lecture series on equity and excellence in American higher education yesterday in Ruffner Hall.
Bowen discussed the results of an empirical study on the effects of race-sensitive admissions policies that he undertook with fellow academic Derek Bok in the late 1990s.
He gave a brief roadmap of the "unlovely history" of race and American education, emphasizing the effects of affirmative action over the past 40 years.
The Curry School of Education sponsored the event with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Curry School Dean Dave Breneman said he has known Bowen for many years and invited him to speak at the University.
"I thought he would find this an interesting opportunity to do a summing up of his work," Breneman said. "He's very much on point and authoritative in this subject."
According to Bowen, one serious mistake that many colleges and universities made in the past was failing to understand that it is insufficient to simply enroll an increased number of minority students.
"At bottom, the challenge was to find the most effective ways of not just enrolling, but educating, a diverse population of minority and majority students," he said.
Outlining four propositions, Bowen claimed the educational benefits of diversity have been strongly reaffirmed by empirical evidence. He said that race-sensitive admissions policies have increased the number of minority students who have gone on to assume positions of leadership, and thus the costs of race-sensitive admission policies are modest and well-justified by the benefits.
Bowen added that progress has been made in narrowing test-score gaps between minority students and other students.
However, he maintained that gaps remain, as does the need for race-sensitive admissions policies.
In reference to the University of Michigan Supreme Court decision to end the "point system" in admissions processes, Bowen said there is every reason to believe that higher education can live with this decision and may in fact be better off for it.
"I personally find individualized, non-mechanical methods of evaluating applicants to be much more desirable," Bowen said. "The Court has aligned its reasoning with the thinking and stated missions of almost all of American higher education."
When the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of the University of Michigan Law School's race-conscious admissions policies in 2003, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said she anticipated no need for race-conscious admissions in 25 years.
Bowen said he is uncertain that race-sensitive policies will be unnecessary at the 25-year mark.
"The goal is laudable and we can certainly anticipate some progress," he said. "But elimination of the need for racial preferences will not just happen."
He cited the large "preparation gap" as one reason the goal seems far off, with only 16 percent of black Americans and 22 percent of Hispanic Americans reaching the "proficient" level or higher on recent national reading tests compared to 34 percent of Asian Americans and 42 percent of whites.
However, Bowen said the solution lies in "staying the course" and making improvements by taking account of race, in sensible ways, and at the same time working to reduce the need for racial preferences.
"We must continue to do our part by pursuing policies that can sustain a culture of hope," Bowen said.
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