Title: Rethinking Proxies for Disadvantage in Higher Education: A First Generation Students' Project
Abstract: On the fiftieth anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this Article argues for a renewed focus on disadvantage and social mobility in higher education law and policy. When President Lyndon Johnson urged passage of the Civil Rights Act and originally advocated affirmative action, the goals of rooting out discrimination and ensuring social mobility for all Americans motivated him. Over time, these goals receded in law and policy. Courts justified affirmative action on grounds of diversity. More recently, commentators urged consideration of classbased affirmative action or advocated policies that favor low-income students. Both initiatives can help open up access to selective institutions of higher education. However, neither is a dependable proxy for disadvantage in education. Race-based affirmative action justified on grounds of diversity is a vital tool for ameliorating racial inequality, but it does not necessarily address class-based disadvantage. Classor income-based policies do not necessarily benefit the neediest students. The demographic makeup of selective institutions of higher education today suggests that neither effort is particularly effective in ensuring social mobility. Campuses are more racially heterogeneous, but largely economically homogenous. If the social mobility objectives of the Civil Rights Act are to be more fully realized, universities must supplement current admissions and aid policies. Today's costly, ultra-competitive, and strategically managed admissions environment makes it even more vital to create pathways for t Daniel P.S. Paul Professor of Constitutional Law and Professor of History, Harvard University. Thanks to Lake Concetta Coreth, Thea Sebastian, Kate Schmidt, Melissa Shube, Samuel Weiss, and Alexandra Zabierek for excellent research assistance and to the following individuals for discussions about ideas in this Article: Richard Bernstein, Daniel Nagin, Erin Driver-Linn, Lani Guinier, Richard Light, Jim Ryan, Kimberly Robinson, Judith Singer, Kimberly West-Faulcon, and David Wilkins. Thanks also to workshop participants at Harvard Law School, the City University of New York, Cardozo Law School and conference participants at the University of Chicago's Symposium on the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. Special thanks to William Fitzsimmons and Sally Donahue of Harvard College for graciously providing direction to this project.
Publication Year: 2014
Publication Date: 2014-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 2
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