Education: Challenges and Opportunities Part 2
Education: Challenges and Opportunities Part 2California Governor Pete Wilson got the ball rolling in 1995 when he proposed ending all state laws on Affirmative Action, including college admissions and scholarship programs targeting minorities. In 1996 Texas Attorney General Dan Morales gave the ball another kick when he brought an end to Affirmative Action programs in state-run colleges by interpreting a Supreme Court decision not to hear a reverse discrimination case called Hopwood to mean that Affirmative Action was now illegal.
Latinos understand the important role higher education plays in a person's level of success, so the action taken by Wilson and Morales and the subsequent anti-Affirmative Action snowball effect naturally caused great concern. The subsequent immediate drop in minority student enrollment was devastating, but then a funny thing happened. Rather than accept these decisions, universities revolted and thought up more comprehensive approaches to admitting all U.S. students beyond just looking at grades and test scores.
In this second part of a two-part HISPANIC Special Report, we look at these issues facing Latino students in higher education: Affirmative Action, federal financial aid, and integrating Ivy League campuses. Also, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities' (HACU) international program takes the organization's advocacy for Latinos in higher education into Latino America.
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Carl
Gutiérrez-Jones
Department of English
University of California, Santa Barbara
e-mail: carlgj@humanitas.ucsb.edu