OPINION: DEI Threatens UT-Tyler's Merit-Based Admission

 ("Fork roads" by Osmar Miranda via Flickr) 

On March 29, UT-Tyler Provost Amir Mirmiran took a question from student government about how the administration would protect respect for cultural diversity in the classroom. Mirmiran replied, “We need to make sure that from admission all the way to retention and everything else, we have policies and processes in place that would ensure a diverse student body.” 

Admissions policies that “ensure” a diverse student body? Wow, really? How would they do that? In my mind, the only way to do this is through race-conscious admissions. How else will the university “ensure” that the student body is acceptably racially diverse except by intentionally considering race in each applicant?

Currently, UT-Tyler has a merit-based admission standard that allows anyone with a GED (or equivalent) and a 2.75 GPA to attend. But could Provost Mirmiran really be suggesting a change from merit-based admission standards to racially-conscious ones instead? 

I asked the university what policies the provost believes will ensure a diverse student body, as he said, and if  the provost still supports merit-based admission standards for UT-Tyler.

A spokesperson replied, “Dr. Mirmiran’s comments were referring to implementing resources such as Patriot Promise scholarship program and mentoring for first-generation students to ensure education and success once enrolled for all students. This would help attract and retain a student body reflective of the communities we serve.” (Italics mine.) 

Ah, there it is. “Once enrolled,” you see. There won’t be any changes to the university’s current merit-based admission standards after all. So what was the provost talking about when he said UT-Tyler must adopt "policies" even in admissions that "ensure" a diverse student body? It sounds like the provost was just talking in generic phrases, I guess.

But there is a lesson here. 

The university’s new overwhelming interest in racial diversity presents a conflict of interest towards its merit-based rewards system. On the one hand, the university rewards degrees, class rank and even admission to students on the basis of their individual performance. Race is not a consideration. On the other hand, UT-Tyler’s new obsession with racial diversity leads the institution away from merit to new considerations of race and class.  

In the end, the new DEI emphasis on race and sex-based diversity challenges its meritorious rewards system. There can be only one fundamental value that provides the basis upon which the university builds its institution. For example, UT-Tyler can either abandon merit-based admission standards in favor of showing racial preference in admission or it can abandon ideals of racial diversity in favor of meritorious admission. There is no other way to “ensure” racial diversity in the student body through admissions except by racially balancing the student body's composition. It is the only way to “ensure” a racially diverse student body. 

The new interest in racial and sex-based diversity at the university is a conflict of interest for its merit-based reward system.

UT-Tyler cannot serve two masters. In the end, one must prevail over the other.

Twitter: @Jhescock12

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Featured image: "Fork roads" by Osmar Miranda via Flickr

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