The University of China, Berkeley?
Since the 1997 institution of Proposition 209, which abolished race-based admission in the University of California system, the U.C. campuses have begun to look different. And by different, I mean Asian. The race-neutral admissions policy at the U.C. schools has created state schools that no longer resemble the demographic make-up of the state. Asians, who represent 12% of California’s population, make up 37% of the entire student body in the 9-school U.C. system. At Berkeley, the crown jewel of the Cali public schools, Asians make up 46% of the 2006 freshman class, the most ever. More than half of these Asian freshman are Chinese. Meanwhile, out of 4,809 freshman at U.C.L.A, only 100 are black (2%). And Hispanics barely make up a third of their statewide representation at the U.C. schools. Let’s not beat around the bush here. In the only large-scale American university system that admits students based on merit, Asians are cleaning up. As to why, it’s fairly obvious. Asian countries take a different approach to studying, problem-solving and classroom dynamics than what Americans are used to. As a Stanford professor said to the Times, “Whether educated in the United States or abroad, they (Asians) see professors as authority figures to be listened to, not challenged in the back-and-forth Socratic tradition.” Whatever the Asian educational tradition is, it’s working. A Princeton study cited in the New York Times story concludes “that if elite universities were to disregard race, Asians would fill nearly four of five spots that now go to blacks or Hispanics.” Jesus. Pretty soon, if current trends continue at the U.C. schools, we may hear about the possibility of instituting affirmative action for whites. I wonder how all the white people against race-based admissions would feel then. Though this article is very long, it’s well worth the read.
•NYT: Little Asia on the Hill