Katherine Johnson
Columnist
In today’s world, we’ve outgrown “leveling the playing field” in relation to affirmative action. The idea was good when, as a country, we were still accepting diversity and coming out of an age of discrimination, but we’ve moved past that into a modern era of accepting people as they are.
Affirmative action should no longer be used in determining who is given scholarships by universities. Recipients of these awards should be determined solely by their academic record and financial need. This process would be fairer and have a true sense of equality.
While I do support diversity, scholarships shouldn’t be based on race. Schools often award scholarships to minorities when students who aren’t of a minority are just as deserving. To prevent this, schools need to have guidelines as to what constitutes a full ride or partial scholarship. This way, we can be assured that all students who receive scholarships are judged by the same objective criteria.
If two students have similar resumes, one should not be given the upper hand based on their race alone. Guidelines would prevent situations like this and make the student aware of what exactly must be done to earn a scholarship. There would be no loopholes, and every student would have an equal chance at qualifying. As they say, “May the best man win.”
The state of our economy is another reason we should move away from affirmative action. Every year, universities raise tuition to even higher numbers. Students and their families simply can’t afford this, and many graduate from school with thousands of dollars of debt. Financial aid is key to every student’s life, and awards like scholarships should take a student’s need into account over their race. All students could use more money for school – no matter their race – which is why schools shouldn’t take race into account when determining scholarships.
Scholarships should be determined on your academic record. If you have good grades, and the university sees you have potential, they’ll want you at their school regardless of race. Those with the highest GPAs or rigorous workloads should be rewarded for their efforts with scholarships.
It’s simply not fair to have one student benefit from a scholarship when another has the same qualifications. A university would not deny a minority a scholarship because they’re a minority, which makes affirmative action outdated.
A university should feel confident that when they award a scholarship, they get their money’s worth. The best way to decide this is by awarding students who have demonstrated their abilities inside and outside the classroom and their commitment to education. By taking out a factor such as race in determining scholarships, they’d be more fairly awarded.
To achieve true equality, affirmative action must be factored out of our decisions. We no longer have to fear that minorities will be discriminated against to the point of not having a fair chance, which was affirmative action’s purpose. Our society is in a different place compared to when affirmative action was created. Leveling the playing field for everyone is what we need to make principled decisions.