OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — African-American students were given preferential treatment in admissions to the University of Oklahoma despite lower average test scores than white students, according to a study released Oct. 22 by a conservative think-tank.
University officials deny the claims made in the study by the Virginia-based Center for Equal Opportunity, which analyzed students admitted to OU's law school in 2005 and 2006 and undergraduate programs from 2005 to 2007. The study also compared admissions data to OU's medical school in the 1990s, the most recent that center officials said they could obtain.
The release of the study comes two weeks before Oklahoma voters are set to decide a state question on whether to abolish affirmative action programs in state government and education.
"We did find a definite pattern that racial preferences are being used at the University of Oklahoma at the law school, in undergraduate admissions and also in medical school admissions," said Roger Clegg, president and general counsel of the center.
Clegg said the study determined the heaviest preferences were given to African-American students applying to OU's law school. The conclusions were calculated by looking at gaps in undergraduate GPAs and scores on the Law School Admission Test, or LSAT, and then calculating odds ratios and probabilities of admissions based on race, Clegg said.
OU spokeswoman Catherine Bishop said the university does not use race as a specific criteria for admission to any of its programs and that it relies on outreach and recruiting efforts to target minority students.
"It is unfortunate that the university was not contacted or provided an opportunity to participate in the CEO study," Bishop said in a statement. "Had the university been contacted, we might have been able to clarify items that seem to be misunderstood by those who prepared the report."
Bishop added that admission to OU's professional schools involve a more "holistic" approach and include consideration of other factors such as writing ability and personal history, including things such as volunteerism and "personal challenges."
But Linda Chavez, chairman of the center, said those factors would not be enough to favor certain minorities.
"The university's references to soft variables such as interviews and volunteerism are unpersuasive, since it's extremely unlikely that these variables would favor African American or American Indian applicants over white, Asian, and other applicants at such an overwhelming degree that they would explain the statistical patterns that our study documents," Chavez said in a statement.
The November ballot question that would abolish affirmative action is being fiercely opposed by civil rights groups, including the Oklahoma chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union.
"Diversity makes us stronger as a state," said Ryan Kiesel, the executive director of the ACLU's Oklahoma chapter and a former state lawmaker. "What we have here ... is a manufactured political crisis. The folks at the state Capitol, the politicians that put this on the ballot, have created a crisis where none exists.
"They've done this all so that during this election cycle they have the opportunity to go to the voters and deploy cleverly crafted political messages that they believe are advantageous to them at the ballot box."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
Comments
Racial Preferences at University of Oklahoma
Personally, it seems unfair for colleges to give racial preferences when admitting students. College admission should depend solely on academics and applicants who are the most qualified with the highest GPA. The fact that race is even a factor in U.S.'s academia moves our society in a backwards direction towards equality for all races.
Prefer this
I don't think that that colleges should not take racial preferences toward any race with admissions of student just so that the university can look diverse and look like a better place for everyone. Schools should do it by GPA, test scores, extra curricular activities no matter what race, religion, or creed the student is.
Think of it this way...would you want a doctor or surgeon treating you that finished in the bottom of the class, that is any race, or would you rather have a doctor or surgeon treating you that finished in the top of the class that is any race?
That is why on mostly all the forms that ask "what race are you" i always deny it because it is none of their business. If they want to accept me, whether it be for school or a job or whatever it may be, do it based off not of my race but off of my accomplishments.