White Race

[Paul Finkelman]

I would actually argue for increasing the size of enrollments rather
than quotas or exact balancing.  I realize the technical difficulties of
doing this, but simply having an add-on of 10% for diversity will not
deprive anyone else of a seat in the class room, but will change the
nature of the school, and society, over time.  I realize that this
simplistic notion runs counter to Bakke, but a serious refined system
might not.  Bottom line is that  race matters, diversity is important,
and we fail in educating people if they are in classes of only one or
two races (whites/Asians).

"Volokh, Eugene" wrote:

>
>
>         So given that UCI's over 50% Asian-American enrollment is
> hardly "balanc[ed]" in the sense of being at all linked to the way our
> "complex society" looks, should UCI impose caps on Asians?  Given that
> the legal academy is hardly "balanc[ed]," given that Paul's and my
> very own Jews are dramatically overrepresented, Christians are highly
> underrepresented (more than blacks or women, for instance), and devout
> Christians are, I imagine, even more underrepresented, should law
> schools create preferences for being non-Jewish, or devoutly Catholic
> or Protestant?
>
> Paul Finkelman writes:
>
>      Golf is a rather simplistic analogy to society.  But, try this:
>      you are
>      choosing your 25 players for a baseball team; you need people
>      with
>      different skills; power hitters, bunters, relief pitchers,
>      starters,
>      middle distance pitchers, fielders, a catcher, etc.  Each player
>      brings
>      different skills to the team. You cannot have a single
>      mathematical
>      method of determing who is best for the team; if you did, you
>      might have
>      a ton of hitters who cannot run well, field, or pitch.  Race, at
>      least
>      in the context of university admissions and certainly some jobs,
>      becomes
>      part of the balancing of what you need for a complete team.  As
>      such,
>      scores (SAT, LSAT, GPA) are only part of a complex measure of
>      what you
>      want on the team.  Thus, some forms of affirmative action are not
>      about
>      "disadvantaging" anyone, but rather about creating an entering
>      class, a
>      sales force, and work force, that can respond to various needs of
>      a
>      complex society.
>
--
Paul Finkelman
Chapman Distinguished Professor
University of Tulsa College of Law
3120 East 4th Place
Tulsa, Oklahoma  74104-2499

918-631-3706 (office)
918-631-2194 (fax)

paul-finkelman at utulsa.edu

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