Ryan: Supreme Court Ruling Will Not Diminish UVa Commitment to Diversity

by James A. Bacon

If the United States Supreme Court rules in June that colleges and universities may no longer use race as a factor in admissions, the University of Virginia will continue to “do everything with our legal authority to recruit a student body that is both extraordinarily talented and richly diverse across every imaginable dimension including race,” said President Jim Ryan and Provost Ian Baucom in a statement issued to the university community.

Arguments before the Supreme Court are now underway on legal challenges at Harvard and the University of North Carolina to block racial preferences in university admissions. Such policies, the plaintiffs argue, violate the Constitutional prohibition of discrimination on the basis of race.

Ryan and Baucom said they are committed to “serve the Commonwealth and beyond by making a UVA education as accessible as possible for all, including historically underrepresented students.”

While there is broad support across the political spectrum for recruiting Blacks, Hispanics and other racial minorities to UVa, there is considerable disquiet about setting numerical goals for minority representation, which, for all practical purposes represent targets to be achieved. UVa assiduously tracks the racial make-up of its student body, faculty, and staff.

Likewise, critics of race-based admissions raise concerns about minority members who lack the academic preparation to keep pace with UVa-level work. What happens to their confidence and self-esteem? Are they more likely to get discouraged and drop out? Another worry is that if some minority students are admitted with low academic qualifications, do minority students who do qualify get stigmatized by the assumption that they enjoyed preferential treatment? Whose best interests are being served under UVa’s policies — those of the minority students who would not have been admitted without the preferences or those of college leaders seeking to burnish their social-justice credentials?

Here is the full text of the letter as posted on Reddit. (I could not find it on the UVa website.)

To the University community,

Today we are writing to follow up on a message we sent in October, as arguments were getting underway at the Supreme Court on two cases challenging the consideration of race in college admissions.

A decision in those cases is expected by the end of June, and if legal experts are correct, the Supreme Court is likely to limit, if not eliminate, the ability of colleges and universities to consider race or ethnicity as one factor among many in their individualized and comprehensive evaluations of candidates for admission.

We will continue to do everything within our legal authority to recruit a student body that is both extraordinarily talented and richly diverse across every imaginable dimension, including race. Those efforts reflect our commitment to serve the Commonwealth and beyond by making a UVA education as accessible as possible for all, including historically underrepresented students. They also extend from the principle that every student learns more, and is better prepared to succeed, when they can engage and exchange ideas with people who come from perspectives and life experiences that differ from their own. That is why many major corporate employers and the U.S. military filed briefs asking the Supreme Court to uphold the consideration of race as one of many factors in college admissions.

Once the opinion is made public, we will share more information about the University’s response. For now, we want to emphasize what we hope you already know: Every member of this community belongs and deserves to be here, and together you make this University the remarkable and vibrant community it is.

The Jefferson Council’s position: The Jefferson Council has not adopted a formal position on race-based admissions policy. Simply put: We don’t know what that policy is. The criteria listed on the Admissions Department website are extraordinarily vague, the Admissions Department has declined to answer the questions we ask, and the university’s responses to our FOIA requests have been severely deficient. Misters Ryan and Baucom could improve the quality of dialogue by directing Admissions to be more forthcoming about how it makes its admissions decisions.

An argument can be made that special allowances should be made for youngsters who have demonstrated a capacity to overcome hardship and diversity — if they have shown “grit,” to use a favored phrase — even if their academic achievements are less impressive. Strong character and motivation can overcome deficiencies in K-12 education and disadvantaged family or social environments. Insofar as such “adversity” was adopted as a criterion, Hispanic and African-American students stand to disproportionately benefit, though not because of their race. However, there are White and Asian students as well who overcome adversity. There is no compelling justification for singling out hardship cases for “brown” and “black” applicants on the basis of their skin color or racial identity.

To what extent does UVa Admissions put its thumb on the scale in favor of favored minorities on the basis of their race/ethnicity? All we can say based on our findings is that applications from Blacks and Hispanics are accepted at much higher rates than from Asians and Whites. The secrecy of the admissions process does not inspire confidence in its fairness.

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Lorna Gladstone
Lorna Gladstone
1 year ago

The use of affirmative action is an insult to me as a Latina and I would imagine to other minorities. To me it implies that I am incapable of achieving success without having my hand held and preferential treatment. I am thankful for my non-Spanish last name. Never asked for preferential treat and never received it, and here I am with a doctorate from USA!!!!

Virginia Cenedella
Virginia Cenedella
1 year ago

I am perplexed by the statement that “every member of the community belongs and deserves to be here” (I.e. at UVA). How is this possible?

Patrick Althet
Patrick Althet
1 year ago

Consideration of factors like race yes, prefetences and quotas, no.
Branch Rickey recruited Jackie Robinson to break the co!or barrier in major league baseball. But he also believed he had the abiliy to play major league ball, that he was qualified.
And that is what universities should look for in admissions, not just someone to make the numbrrs look good, but those from all sorts of backgrounds who can handle the academic challenge tbey face.
I myself came to UVaas the first memberof my family to attend college and who graduated from a very small rural high school, one that was very underfunded and lacking in many resources. Where far more students dropped out of school instead of graduating, much less attending college.
I am grateful that UVa took a chance on me. But I still had to do the work and pass the courses if I wished to remain enrolled.

James B Newman
James B Newman
1 year ago

The University is helmed by an administration that is intent on maintaining an admissions policy, as with many other things, that seeks to maintain a progressive ideology not consistent with what is right for all students and a merit-based society. Ironically the President is a trained lawyer, yet asserts that he does not care what the Supreme Court thinks. Sadly the progressive bent is that “they do not care” for ideas not their own or what is fair much less legal. Only focused and strong measures must be taken to rid the University of this cancer.

Walter smith
Walter smith
1 year ago

Translation:
we have been discriminating on the basis of race for years, contrary to our non discrimination statement, and we will continue to do so even after the Supreme Courts cuts off the Gratz loophole we have driven an Abrams tank through.

Why does the “diversity dashboard” measure progress by racial characteristics? And how come there is no measurement of diversity of viewpoints? Isn’t it racist to assume that all people of a racial classification have the same viewpoint?

UVA knows it is violating the law now and will continue to do so, even if the Supremes close this loophole.

Jim Moore
Jim Moore
1 year ago

 the University of Virginia will continue to “do everything with our legal authority to recruit a student body that is both extraordinarily talented and richly diverse across every imaginable dimension including race,”

I have EEEEE wide feet. Can I get a scholarship?

James B Newman
James B Newman
1 year ago

It is interesting that one of the comments George Will made while speaking recently at the University is that it does not make any difference what the Supreme Court decides; universities will continue to push DEI programs in ways that they hope people will not notice. President Ryan appears to be an example of what George Will refers to. Gov. Youngkin cannot appoint new members to the BOV fast enough.

walter smith
walter smith
1 year ago
Reply to  James B Newman

I think people who know the Northam appointees need to shame them. Do you really agree with UVA breaking the law (which they are doing now)? The compelled speech DEI statements are unConstitutional. Why are you silent? Do you remember anything of Jefferson? Are they really such political hacks? Or just scared? Probably some combination of both, but they have failed at their duties spelled out in the BOV Manual and VA Law.

Practicing Lawyer
Practicing Lawyer
1 year ago
Reply to  James B Newman

They are all preparing to break the law. The proof is doing away with every standardized metric of applicant quality. We have an elite class in charge of our institutions who feel so superior morally and intellectually that they believe they should decide for the country. Forget the law. If only the smart people could run things, it would all be great. They have so little perspective for people with so much schooling.

Kevin W. Holt
Kevin W. Holt
1 year ago

Yet they don’t know high school grammar. The sentence should read, “[E]very student learns more, and is better prepared to succeed, when he or she can engage and exchange ideas with people who come from perspectives and life experiences that differ from his or her own.” “Student” is singular. Thus “he” or “she.” I imagine this is part of the pronoun wars.

Anthony Lopez
Anthony Lopez
1 year ago

UVA administrators have used Native American diversity for their own purposes at the expense of the Native Americans: see this recent op-Ed in the Cavalier Daily: https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2023/05/lopez-vice-provost-nelson-should-not-serve-as-a-finals-weekend-speaker?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_featured

Patricia Keshin
Patricia Keshin
1 year ago

Based on the very boring, uninspiring, “lecture”, I mean, commencement speech given yesterday by Lewis Nelson, the University’s commitment to DEI is going not only going full steam, it’s doubling down. It was actually embarrassing listening to this guy. Plus, he spoke more about himself than the thousand plus graduates. Many people around me got up and walked around. There was very little applause during his lecture. It was a bust. Thank God, it was a beautiful day. We weren’t there to celebrate this blowhard but instead our children/graduates who worked so very hard to get to this special day.

William H Theus
William H Theus
1 year ago

I can’t figure out Ryan’s purpose in releasing this statement be fore the SCOTUS decision.