Should schools scrap diversity targets ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Affirmative action”? I think it was our current president who once said "don’t worry about what someone else is getting, focus on what you are getting”.
If you just don’t want to be around blacks and Latinos, there are local schools that don’t have much of either.

I am black and Latino. Just see the diversity as a way for the Rich to get a free pass on the admissions to competitive schools.

Cosmetic diversity is still valuable because even rich PoC in the U.S. have to consider and live with issues that white people don't.
Promoting friendships and maybe even facilitating interracial dating in elite schools is socially valuable because people in power extrapolate based on who they know and what feels normal to them.

My family is moving from a 100% white family to a biracial family because of diversity in elite institutions. I think this is healthy for America. There's no clearer sign to me of lessened racism than welcoming people into your family.

There is a reason why many students give lip service to the idea of attending a school that welcomes diversity. At the core is a hope for a more just and inclusive society. That hope might be naive but is better than a neutral stance in my opinion. Also many people genuinely enjoy studying with people who have different backgrounds. There is a lot of nastiness about international students right now but I have definitely enjoyed studying and working alongside people from different countries and I have sought that out.

Good rationalization for these schools pursuing diversity that is merely cosmetic. With that as cover, they can claim to be progressive while perpetuating the haves-havenots status quo and giving their families what they really want.

My point is that it's better than nothing. It's not a rationalization in my personal life because my kids go to public school in a middle income town. However my family has pursued higher education at schools (Ivies, etc.) that have been focusing on diversity in various ways for a long time. I believe it matters. Any effort is better than unconcern.

[Anonymous]

Why should we pay your kid’s bills for you, their tuition, just for socioeconomic diversity? That is not worth paying for.

There is already a wide range of financial diversity among full pay families.

[Anonymous]

the conversation never comes down to "one rich white family compared to a rich asian family" but rather the admissions directors have to weave together a class/grade of kids who have gender and racial attributes, but also kids with different strengths and weaknesses, different learning styles and who contribute something to the community in the form of the arts, sports etc.

So there are a myriad of factors and just basing a decision on race is simply too myopic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the conversation never comes down to "one rich white family compared to a rich asian family" but rather the admissions directors have to weave together a class/grade of kids who have gender and racial attributes, but also kids with different strengths and weaknesses, different learning styles and who contribute something to the community in the form of the arts, sports etc.

So there are a myriad of factors and just basing a decision on race is simply too myopic.

OF course. That makes sense. But race do matters. If there is a single spot left. Race might play a role and a white kid might be reject based on diversity factors. By the way in my private school I don’t see any low income families, so I do believe that at the end you see discussion whether to accept a rich white asian or African families .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:By design co-ed schools try to have gender parity which is good. Now, my question is if they should continue to have some race targets. What I see is that in private schools they want to accept racially diverse students, but income wise very homegenous families. It is ok to keep this approach? Is it fair? Just basic questions since dc is so diverse and there are so many schools, not sure schools really need affirmative action. Moreover many times the non-white recruitment is highly discrecional. For some schools mean admitting more African Americans and for others more Asians. But is not clear that this is a fair or inclusive system at all since the admissions are highly dependent on the income of the parents.

OP, here's the thing. This is a pointless post and conversation because these are private schools. They can do whatever they want to, including deciding that they want an entire student body of purple people. What you or I think is not important. If you don't like the way a particular school handles this issue, send your kids to a different one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why should we pay your kid’s bills for you, their tuition, just for socioeconomic diversity? That is not worth paying for.

Lots of big donors disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should we pay your kid’s bills for you, their tuition, just for socioeconomic diversity? That is not worth paying for.

Lots of big donors disagree.

Big donors might like diversity but also the elite brand of schools (kids of well connected families)

[Anonymous]

So to be clear, this thread was started by white people who are angry that non-whites are at their school. There’re only a finite number of spots in private schools and any minority who is admitted is undeserving and there only for DEI quotas, so they’d have you believe. Have a nice day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By design co-ed schools try to have gender parity which is good. Now, my question is if they should continue to have some race targets. What I see is that in private schools they want to accept racially diverse students, but income wise very homegenous families. It is ok to keep this approach? Is it fair? Just basic questions since dc is so diverse and there are so many schools, not sure schools really need affirmative action. Moreover many times the non-white recruitment is highly discrecional. For some schools mean admitting more African Americans and for others more Asians. But is not clear that this is a fair or inclusive system at all since the admissions are highly dependent on the income of the parents.

OP, here's the thing. This is a pointless post and conversation because these are private schools. They can do whatever they want to, including deciding that they want an entire student body of purple people. What you or I think is not important. If you don't like the way a particular school handles this issue, send your kids to a different one.

It’s pointless because schools never truly cared about diversity in the first place. What the schools - and the families at the schools - want is a school full of wealthy families. As wealthy as possible with a few middle class kids thrown in occasionally, esp if they play a sport really well.

It’s a business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By design co-ed schools try to have gender parity which is good. Now, my question is if they should continue to have some race targets. What I see is that in private schools they want to accept racially diverse students, but income wise very homegenous families. It is ok to keep this approach? Is it fair? Just basic questions since dc is so diverse and there are so many schools, not sure schools really need affirmative action. Moreover many times the non-white recruitment is highly discrecional. For some schools mean admitting more African Americans and for others more Asians. But is not clear that this is a fair or inclusive system at all since the admissions are highly dependent on the income of the parents.

OP, here's the thing. This is a pointless post and conversation because these are private schools. They can do whatever they want to, including deciding that they want an entire student body of purple people. What you or I think is not important. If you don't like the way a particular school handles this issue, send your kids to a different one.

It’s pointless because schools never truly cared about diversity in the first place. What the schools - and the families at the schools - want is a school full of wealthy families. As wealthy as possible with a few middle class kids thrown in occasionally, esp if they play a sport really well.

It’s a business.

Wrong.

[Anonymous]

I am Hispanic married to an American and my kid is Caucasian. I prefer that race was not a factor in school admissions. Just because my kid is white doesn’t mean that he is less capable than a non-white one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am Hispanic married to an American and my kid is Caucasian. I prefer that race was not a factor in school admissions. Just because my kid is white doesn’t mean that he is less capable than a non-white one.

Lol okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should we pay your kid’s bills for you, their tuition, just for socioeconomic diversity? That is not worth paying for.

Lots of big donors disagree.

Suspect big donors have very little to do with this.

The elite privates will follow what the elite colleges do. They mirror their student bodies on the elite colleges. If the elite colleges pull back from diversity targets, so will the privates in due time.

Saying that, it's not a "battle" for either side. The simple reality is diversity in the US means privates are going to be much more diverse than they were in the 1990s no matter what happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:By design co-ed schools try to have gender parity which is good. Now, my question is if they should continue to have some race targets. What I see is that in private schools they want to accept racially diverse students, but income wise very homegenous families. It is ok to keep this approach? Is it fair? Just basic questions since dc is so diverse and there are so many schools, not sure schools really need affirmative action. Moreover many times the non-white recruitment is highly discrecional. For some schools mean admitting more African Americans and for others more Asians. But is not clear that this is a fair or inclusive system at all since the admissions are highly dependent on the income of the parents.

Sorry, but we’re a full pay black family and have been in private schools since K for both children and it doesn’t matter how dedicated a school was to diversity, progressive or conservative, we have never NOT been one of only a few black families in our grade. Usually I’ve seen maximum 3-5 black kids per grade (if lucky). A couple of Asians, a few Indians here and there .. but the schools are always predominantly white. It never even close. At the mid/lower tier privates there is more diversity, but at the top schools.. forget about it.

All that to say, “should schools do away with diversity initiatives?” Implies that these diversity initiatives are actually making the schools diverse. I’m sorry they aren’t. When you’re touring schools, take the time to count the number of non-white students to white. DEI initiatives have been a thing for decades and still my daughter is one of only 5 black kids in her grade. The real question is, why aren’t there top elite black Private schools? No black boarding schools? College prep super exclusive schools with predominantly Indian kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By design co-ed schools try to have gender parity which is good. Now, my question is if they should continue to have some race targets. What I see is that in private schools they want to accept racially diverse students, but income wise very homegenous families. It is ok to keep this approach? Is it fair? Just basic questions since dc is so diverse and there are so many schools, not sure schools really need affirmative action. Moreover many times the non-white recruitment is highly discrecional. For some schools mean admitting more African Americans and for others more Asians. But is not clear that this is a fair or inclusive system at all since the admissions are highly dependent on the income of the parents.

Sorry, but we’re a full pay black family and have been in private schools since K for both children and it doesn’t matter how dedicated a school was to diversity, progressive or conservative, we have never NOT been one of only a few black families in our grade. Usually I’ve seen maximum 3-5 black kids per grade (if lucky). A couple of Asians, a few Indians here and there .. but the schools are always predominantly white. It never even close. At the mid/lower tier privates there is more diversity, but at the top schools.. forget about it.

All that to say, “should schools do away with diversity initiatives?” Implies that these diversity initiatives are actually making the schools diverse. I’m sorry they aren’t. When you’re touring schools, take the time to count the number of non-white students to white. DEI initiatives have been a thing for decades and still my daughter is one of only 5 black kids in her grade. The real question is, why aren’t there top elite black Private schools? No black boarding schools? College prep super exclusive schools with predominantly Indian kids?

My main point is that schools should be race blind. First of all there are private schools with large share of non white people. Presumably you send your kids to the school you describe because it’s good. There could be other schools more ethnically diverse (specially public) that probably offer a not such a good quality of education and you decided not to send your kids there. The most important thing is to have a very high quality of education and eliminate race from the admission criteria. I think income would be a more valid approach as you would help disadvantaged and talented kids.