Columbia concludes that blacks will never measure up, so it's quit measuring

It will no longer require SATs for admission, “for the sake of diversity”.

Columbia University will no longer require undergraduate applicants to submit their SAT or ACT standardized test scores, becoming the first Ivy League school to permanently go test-optional.

Columbia’s Undergraduate Admissions announced Wednesday that it would join a growing number of higher-education institutions that have also stopped requiring test scores when considering applicants.

“Our review is purposeful and nuanced — respecting varied backgrounds, voices and experiences — in order to best determine an applicant’s suitability for admission and ability to thrive in our curriculum and our community, and to advance access to our educational opportunities,” the announcement said. Columbia University will no longer require undergraduate applicants to submit their SAT or ACT standardized test scores, becoming the first Ivy League school to permanently go test-optional.

Is it possible that Columbia is dropping the SAT out of concern that too many “otherwise qualified” (whatever that might mean) whites and Asians with low test scores are being denied admission? To ask is to answer.

What all these schools are actually doing is anticipating and preparing for the Supreme Court to strike down affirmative action programs this June. There is no way college administrators are going to stop admitting blacks, and in their estimation, there aren’t enough qualified blacks to go around, so a work around is going to be necessary. Getting rid of objective standards like the SAT will make comparisons of test scores by race impossible, and thereby make allegations of unconstitutional affirmative action impossible to prove.

I predicted long ago that nothing would change when affirmative action was finally ruled to be unconstitutional, and the coming years will bear that out.

RELATED:

DELAWARE DUMBS IT DOWN: “Delaware Lowers Passing Score on Bar Exam in Push for Racial Diversity:  ‘Not Supposed to be a Barrier.'”  (Actually, not knowing enough about law is supposed to be a barrier, but I guess I’ll have to let that slide.)

Posted at 9:24 pm by Gail Heriot