News
By Rakesh Gopalan
|
September 30, 1999
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.