“Over-indexing on race”

[Anonymous]

Someone made a comment about this vis a vis Asians at Northwestern

We can debate if a college class should mirror the broader US population racially but I wanted to make a narrower point. The racial composition of 18 year olds is not the same as the broader US population. So if you are gong to index to anything it should at least be the appropriate age cohort.

[Anonymous]

Over-index simply means more than the statistical average based on another set of data. It wasn't a criticism, just a note that NU appeared to be both trying to "look like the country" while also not letting that desire impact merit.

The youth data tracks fairly close to national data by the way. "Just under half (49%) of all youth under age 18 were female, and 54% were under age 10. Non-Hispanic white youth accounted for 52% of the 2020 youth population, non-Hispanic Black youth accounted for 15%, and Hispanic youth accounted for one-fourth (26%)."

[Anonymous]

Great, stick to the Asians even more!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Over-index simply means more than the statistical average based on another set of data. It wasn't a criticism, just a note that NU appeared to be both trying to "look like the country" while also not letting that desire impact merit.

The youth data tracks fairly close to national data by the way. "Just under half (49%) of all youth under age 18 were female, and 54% were under age 10. Non-Hispanic white youth accounted for 52% of the 2020 youth population, non-Hispanic Black youth accounted for 15%, and Hispanic youth accounted for one-fourth (26%)."

Adult white population is 60%, though. The Hispanic under 18 population is larger than the Hispanic adult population by a fair amount.

Multiracial group is growing. One day, hopefully, that group will be the majority so we can stop looking at race for everything. Full disclosure: my kids are biracial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over-index simply means more than the statistical average based on another set of data. It wasn't a criticism, just a note that NU appeared to be both trying to "look like the country" while also not letting that desire impact merit.

The youth data tracks fairly close to national data by the way. "Just under half (49%) of all youth under age 18 were female, and 54% were under age 10. Non-Hispanic white youth accounted for 52% of the 2020 youth population, non-Hispanic Black youth accounted for 15%, and Hispanic youth accounted for one-fourth (26%)."

Adult white population is 60%, though. The Hispanic under 18 population is larger than the Hispanic adult population by a fair amount.

Multiracial group is growing. One day, hopefully, that group will be the majority so we can stop looking at race for everything. Full disclosure: my kids are biracial.

Or you know, we can stop looking at race for everything right now.

What'll most likely happen is a caste system similar to Latin America - white, black, asian, native, mestizo (white-native), mulato (white-black), zambos (native-black), etc. And Latin America has plenty of racism.

[Anonymous]

You forgot to include over-indexing on athletics and legacy…which benefits whites.

[Anonymous]

They should only index it (if at all) to the qualified applicant pool. That means 17-22 year olds with high school degree. Obviously HS dropouts aren't going to get in, nor anyone with a 2.0 gpa.

[Anonymous]

Race is not color. Race is not ethnicity Colleges -- and most communities - see race as culture and a shared set of experiences that are often driven by other people's reactions to color. Nuanced but very different. So colleges looking to broaden their scope are looking for broad ranges of experience, not just ticking a color box. Don't expect that to ever stop, one way or the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Race is not color. Race is not ethnicity Colleges -- and most communities - see race as culture and a shared set of experiences that are often driven by other people's reactions to color. Nuanced but very different. So colleges looking to broaden their scope are looking for broad ranges of experience, not just ticking a color box. Don't expect that to ever stop, one way or the other.

In other words, race is victimhood. Yet oddly colleges justify racial preferences by the theory of diversity- which would suggest it’s about cultural diversity

[Anonymous]

This is a ridiculous concept. Whites and Asians make up by far the bulk of college ready students, especially for elite schools, so the demographics of all adolescents in the U.S. is meaningless. Our country has lost all ability to consider anything but emotions. Wishing the world to be a certain way does not make it so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a ridiculous concept. Whites and Asians make up by far the bulk of college ready students, especially for elite schools, so the demographics of all adolescents in the U.S. is meaningless. Our country has lost all ability to consider anything but emotions. Wishing the world to be a certain way does not make it so.

OP: I agree but also wanted to point out the stupidity that people casually demonstrate when they suggest there is some racial benchmark colleges should aspire to

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great, stick to the Asians even more!

What does that mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Race is not color. Race is not ethnicity Colleges -- and most communities - see race as culture and a shared set of experiences that are often driven by other people's reactions to color. Nuanced but very different. So colleges looking to broaden their scope are looking for broad ranges of experience, not just ticking a color box. Don't expect that to ever stop, one way or the other.

In other words, race is victimhood. Yet oddly colleges justify racial preferences by the theory of diversity- which would suggest it’s about cultural diversity

It is where I work anyway...

[Anonymous]

What kind of world do we live in where people define themselves primarily by their perceived/imagined oppression?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What kind of world do we live in where people define themselves primarily by their perceived/imagined oppression?

Brought to you by the Democratic party and the progressives.