Do Black Students Really Have a 576-to-1 Advantage in University of Wisconsin Admissions? « Student Activism

Do Black Students Really Have a 576-to-1 Advantage in University of Wisconsin Admissions? « Student Activism:

Do Black Students Really Have a 576-to-1 Advantage in University of Wisconsin Admissions?

by Angus Johnston

Earlier this week a group called the Center for Equal Opportunity released a 21-page analysis of undergraduate admissions data from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, charging what they call “severe discrimination based on race and ethnicity.” Wisconsin students protested at a press conference announcing the findings, while one Republican state legislator is calling for a formal investigation of the university’s selection process.

Wisconsin is already a political tinderbox, of course, and this is likely to add fuel to the fire. It’s legal under binding Supreme Court precedent to consider race as a factor in college admissions, but CEO claims that UW has gone way overboard, admitting manifestly unqualified black and Latino students ahead of more-deserving whites.

I’ve spent a good chunk of the last two days examining the CEO study, and I’ve found that it’s riddled with serious flaws. Put plainly, UW admissions data don’t show what CEO’s report says they do, and the group’s