Affirmative Action is Beneficial

College acceptance stress pervades the Exeter campus. We all spend time thinking about the grades we get, the activities we partake in and our potential futures, and every year, the arduous college application process repeats itself for a new senior class. However, this year’s application process is overshadowed by something brewing in the media: Harvard was in trial regarding whether or not its admission process limits Asian American applicants in favor of students of other races.

This trial is long overdue. Tensions have been developing for years within Asian communities about the fairness of the college admissions process, specifically when it comes to the alleged disadvantage that Asian college applicants encounter due to their race. In order to express their anger, some have turned to criticism of affirmative action policies.

The Asian community’s frustration is understandable. It is frustrating to feel as though your race inhibits you from achieving your fullest potential, that you  may have to work twice as hard as someone else to ensure you reach the same position as them. Many Asian applicants are also the children of immigrants, which adds another aspect of pressure as they may feel the need to gain the opportunities and education their parents were never afforded.

Despite this, getting rid of affirmative action is not the correct way to address these frustrations. Affirmative action is put in place to ensure diversity, which holds unmeasurable value in classrooms. Diversity within the student body allows you to learn about different backgrounds and cultures. Affirmative action policies also make for a more equitable classroom, ensuring that people who were not born with certain privileges, such as parents who could afford expensive SAT prep tutors and sports training, still have a meaningful chance when it comes to the college admissions process.

We should not be misdirecting our fear and anger towards a necessary public policy. There are so many other aspects when it comes to Harvard’s admissions process, such as the preference of legacy students and student-athlete recruitment, which merit a closer look at their equitability.

It is undeniable that Asian and Asian American students are held to a different, higher standard when it comes to the college admissions process, especially when it comes to elite universities. Although they receive some of the highest test scores, their personality scores are often ranked lowest out of all races, which makes me wonder about the way in which these personality scores are determined.

Are they, even subconsciously, based on the stereotype that Asian students are innately smart and study hard, but lack interesting passions and traits? Do we often play into that stereotype, or is it so ingrained into our society’s conscience that even college admissions inadvertently buy into that belief of who Asians are?

Perhaps that is what we should be putting our effort into—on fixing the details within the current system that view us as unequal, rather than targeting other policies, like affirmative action, which serve a purpose.