To the Editor:
Dave Hemmer's column "Race Should Have no Place in Dartmouth's Admissions" misses the point in a least three different ways. First, Hemmer argues that while it is valid that the admissions office use some sort of test of disadvantage, the use of race as a factor in admissions is invalid. Hemmer argues that using race allows for the admission of wealthy blacks at a lower standard, while they may not have suffered any such disadvantage.
Hemmer seems to assume that wealthy African-Americans (or Asian-Americans, or Latinos, or Native Americans) are somehow freed from prejudice as a result of their wealth. Only a white person could ever make an argument such as this. Indeed, to a person of color, I would imagine that the idea seems somewhat insulting.
In addition, like many critics of affirmative action, Hemmer misses a key result of affirmative action. Presumably, any admissions policy should be implemented with the ultimate goal of improving the institution. Hemmer ignores the fact that having students of different racial, ethnic and class backgrounds contributes positively to the educational experience of all of us. The presence of a variety of perspectives is an invaluable part of learning, and one that should be maintained at all costs.
Finally, Hemmer hurts his argument by conveniently missing a large part of the story. Not unlike a lot of students at Dartmouth, I am a legacy. My father graduated in 1968. If my list of rejections from other schools is any indicator, it is clear that a large part of the reason I got into Dartmouth is because of my father. My GPA and class rank were well below my class average. As a white male from a very comfortable background, I am the beneficiary of an affirmative action program. Indeed, the white students aided in this way far outnumber the minority students aided by more traditional "affirmative action." How is it that this admission preference program (one which clearly helps whites more than minorities, since the alumni population is disproportionately white) managed to escape Hemmer's notice? Not only will his proposal hurt the quality of education at this college by depriving it of diversity, it will perpetuate the very injustice affirmative action is meant to rectify.
