America’s most elite universities have factored race into admissions for years now. Cornell University, for example, lists diversity and inclusion as one of its core values. In fact, the concept of admitting students from different backgrounds is rooted in Cornell’s motto. As Cornell’s founder Ezra Cornell said, “I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.” From the beginning, Cornell has been open to students of all races. In recent decades, Cornell and the other Ivy Leagues and elite universities have used affirmative action policies to boost their numbers of black and Hispanic students. Racial diversity is not just a concept they give nominal respect to; it is a core facet of these institutions’ identities.
Now that the Supreme Court has ruled against affirmative action in higher education, deeming race-based admissions policies unconstitutional, Cornell and the other elite universities across the nation will have to abandon their current race-based admissions policies. But it’s unlikely that any of them will abandon their goal of pursuing woke diversity. So how do they move forward?
The end of affirmative action in admissions is a good thing for our country. It puts an end to discrimination against Asian students and the practice of lowering certain standards based on the race of the applicant, a practice which is not only discriminatory, but also sets up black and Hispanic students to fail if they come from an education background that did not prepare them for the rigor of elite colleges. But it is true that Americans of every race should have equal opportunities to succeed and excel in life. It is also true that cultivating a highly talented student body of people from diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and experience is a worthy goal for universities. The way to get there is to support school choice.
In a recent opinion piece for The New York Times, Harvard professor Roland Fryer pointed out that, outside of summer enrichment programs, elite universities don’t intervene for minority students in their critical K-12 years. “They don’t teach the higher order skills that students need to get into college,” he wrote. “They don’t cultivate the grit and resilience kids need to navigate a challenging curriculum after they are admitted. They rely on existing schools to do that.” Fryer argues that staying out of K-12 education is a mistake for these colleges. If elite universities truly value diversity, he argues, they should fund middle and high schools that qualify and prepare disadvantaged students to attend these colleges.
Fryer makes a salient point. Elite universities could change the futures of thousands of minority kids by pouring into K-12 education. But they do not necessarily even need to set up their own schools. They would simply need to support the growing number of unique schools already in existence by funding low income students and their families and encouraging state and local governments to expand school choice.
32 states and Washington, D.C. have some type of school choice program, which empowers families to pay for education options they otherwise could not afford using public funds. The availability and robustness of school choice programs varies widely from state to state, however, meaning that low income students still face many barriers to good education depending on where they live. The growing number of states with school choice programs has the power to transform the lives of minority students.
And many unique schools already exist that could prepare disadvantaged students for elite colleges and would benefit greatly from expanded school choice. In New York City, for example, there are already over 200 low-cost private schools set up with the explicit purpose of providing low income students with a great education. Author Kerry McDonald reports that these schools charge an average yearly tuition of only $6,065. The nonprofit Children’s Scholarship Fund provides scholarships to low income families so their students can attend these schools. The three NYC schools that McDonald focuses on in her article are all founded by people of color and serve low income minority students. And schools built to support low income and minority students are popping up across the country, not just in New York City.
Black Minds Matter, an organization that advocates for better education options for black K-12 students, has a directory of schools founded by African Americans on its website. Earlier this year, Black Minds Matter and Step Up for Students conducted a survey of black school founders. The survey results demonstrate that school choice empowers education entrepreneurs to create a wide variety of schools that cater to individual families’ needs. 64% of founders surveyed are former public school teachers. 53% identified as Democrat, indicating that school choice is not merely a conservative talking point. The majority of schools surveyed serve predominantly black and low income students, and most of their students were formerly enrolled in public school, where they often performed below grade level.
This dispels the myth that private schools, charter schools, and other schooling options outside of public school will leave disadvantaged students behind and only cater to high achieving, well-resourced students if empowered by school choice. On the contrary, school choice empowers low income parents by giving them the funds they need to provide their children with high quality education, and it empowers the hundreds of schools that want to help disadvantaged students achieve excellence and keep their doors open. The three founders in Kerry McDonald’s article, as well as 54% of founders in the Black Minds Matter survey, said that support from school choice organizations would greatly help them in their mission to provide high quality education to the students whom public schools have failed for decades.
If Cornell and other elite universities really want to admit more black and Hispanic students, they should support school choice. They don’t even necessarily need to create their own new schools, as Fryer suggested. They could partner with the hundreds of unique schools around the country that are already helping minority students succeed. They could use parts of their endowment to provide scholarships so that more students can attend these schools. Cornell University could be on the front lines of nationwide change.
Emmie Lo is a Latin teacher and staff writer for Color Us United.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.