Although Affirmative Action has been reduced to compliance with government regulations, Horace Cooper said last night that he still believes in the spirit of the idea.
Cooper, who serves as the press secretary and director of coalitions for House Majority Leader Dick Armey, voiced his views to an audience of approximately 50 students gathered in 3 Rockefeller Center.
Cooper gave a history of Affirmative Action, which included his opinions on where it has gone wrong.
"The original plan was to encourage people of different backgrounds and underrepresented students to feel comfortable at these campuses," Cooper said.
However, he said, when the Department of Education began to sanction the process, the spirit of the plan degenerated into nothing more than a system of fear and compliance with regulations.
Cooper described some of the problems that arose -- the dual-track admissions system, the institution of the Bell Curve, grade inflation and, most importantly, the creation of a great amount of hostility between students of different backgrounds.
"A system of blame has been created," said Cooper, who criticized a system which he said makes universities accept less than qualified candidates because of their backgrounds.
When students find out about these discrepancies, Cooper said, they start to assume every minority student acceptance is because of Affirmative Action.
To prevent animosity from building, Cooper claimed that colleges purposely segregate students with different backgrounds, thus destroying the atmosphere that Affirmative Action was intended to create.
Cooper also encouraged students to think for themselves about the issue and to engage in "thoughtful debate."
"Don't let a non-issue debate decide this discussion," he said.
The speech was sponsored by Ivy Leaguers for Freedom, a campus conservative group that promotes discussion of nation-wide issues that affect students.
Cooper, who appears regularly on television and radio, graduated from George Mason University School of Law after obtaining an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas. He now serves on the GMU Board of Visitors, the governing body of GMU.
