Reply to NY Times on new application essays dabbling in so-called "identities"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]“It's the 21st century, folks. The world our kids will enter is stunningly multicultural”

Exactly, but that should make identity LESS important, not MORE. The alumni magazine should read “Suzy X (class of ‘15) climbs Mount Everest,” not “First trans Albanian Suzy   X overcomes unique challenges to go where nobody like her has gone before.”

If the identity is relevant, fine. Like if it’s “First Muslim appointed to be Pope’s bodyguard,” that’s great, because the identity is key to the story. But don’t make identity the story when it has nothing to do with the achievement.

We should be working towards a society where those sorts of characteristics aren’t THE STORY, but we are swimming upstream as long as so many people have to interject identity where it isn’t relevant. [/quote]

Genuinely curious — truly — how you (and others!) might design a system, in a world with massive disparities many of which stem from historic injustices, that can (a) measure the academic potential of individuals from a pool of candidates who had different starting points and inputs, and (b) assess these individuals’ level of introspection about who they are and how their perspectives were informed, such that you can have confidence in their ability to work effectively, constructively, and equitably, across cultural, socioeconomic, etc., divides.

Maybe it’s not the “identity” essay, I don’t know. But then what is it? What is the better system?

I am interested in hearing a different/better  approach, but if it doesn’t acknowledge the society we’re in, and it doesn’t acknowledge goals (a) and (b), how is it not just more of what has been? [/quote]

Among all those bemoaning the unfairness and racism of the essay, I haven’t seen anyone suggest a better way to assess the academic potential of candidates from disparate means and backgrounds, or to discern candidates’ introspection/ability to thrive in and contribute to a multicultural community.

Do I *love* the identity question? Not really (though for different reasons than several of you). But I do appreciate what colleges are trying to do, and the situation they’re in, and I haven’t yet heard a better solution that actually acknowledges the very challenges we face in America.

At any rate, this is all starting to feel pretty bad faith. May you all find a bit of ease and grace in this messy world.[/quote]

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