Reply to Amherst getting rid of legacy preference

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]You know OP, I was with you up until you invoked the "white supremacy" nonsense.  Seriously?  [/quote]

Yes, seriously. ALL of the elite colleges in this country were designed to preserve the privilege of wealthy white men. And they are still beholden to their big donors, who are mostly wealthy white people.[/quote]

That's like arguing all elite universities in Europe were designed for white people.... some people need to get a grip on the reality that American history is extremely, heavily white.

These days the major big donors at most of the elite colleges tend to be more Jewish than the stereotypical WASPs of old so the idea that some old money family is trying to hold on to privilege through legacy admissions also doesn't hold, and hasn't had validity since probably the 1990s. And as a sign of the times, non whites are also increasingly becoming prominent as big donors.

My view on getting rid of legacy preference is that it will have minimal impact on the demographics of the student body. The children of the very connected and prominent donors (regardless of race) will always find a way to get admitted. It's the generic upper middle class kid without serious hooks beyond that parents were alums and may have donated a bit over the years who will be replaced by - other upper middle class kids with slightly better hooks. Is it fairer? Dunno.

I will say, however, knowing how crapshoot admissions is these days and the weakening of legacy factors, I've stopped donating and most likely will never donate again. What for? Will that have a cumulative factor on alum donations down the road? The major argument for keeping legacy admissions alive for so long was never about perpetuating some kind of bogeyman white supremacy that only exists in left wing minds, but to keep the alum donations rolling in and the notion of multigenerational loyalty to a school that, once again, kept the donations rolling in. Who do you think paid for all the fancy buildings of old and today? Alum donations, that's what. So the colleges do have a vested interest in keeping those donations coming in.

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