Political Union Panel Discusses History, Future of Affirmative Action

Student leaders failed to reach a consensus on how the University should respond to the results of the first 30 years of affirmative action admissions policies at a discussion panel Saturday.

The debate, sponsored by the Harvard Political Union (HPU), was titled "Affirmative Action: Diversity or Discrimination?" and aimed to expose the wide range of student views on the issue.

Although Eric S. Olney '98, President of the Harvard-Radcliffe College Democrats, supported affirmative action, he agreed it does not address the issue of socio-economic diversity.

"You would lose a lot of the diversity on this campus without affirmative action," Olney said. "You can't address all these issues at the same time. You have to make choices."

One of the challenges facing Saturday's panel was to define exactly what type of and at what level affirmative action should be discussed.

"It is premature to begin discussing whether or not to end affirmative action," said Joshua D. Bloodworth '97, president of the Black Students Association.

"Before we talk about affirmative action we need to talk about the continuing legacy of racism," he said.

Bloodworth urged the panel to consider the roots of discriminatory college admissions policies.

"We must look at students before they get to college, in a sense that teachers tend to favor male over female students and white over black students in their classrooms," he said.

"I also believe we need to consider the need for class-based affirmative action in addition to race-based affirmative action," he said.

Beth A. Stewart '00, a member of the Harvard Republican Club (HRC) and treasurer of the Undergraduate Council, criticized affirmative action.

"The title of this panel would imply that since I am against affirmative action I'm against diversity and for discrimination," said Stewart, the only woman on panel.

"We cannot argue that blacks bring diversity merely by the color of their skin. We do this nation a disservice when we base our search for diversity on affirmative action principles," she said.

The panel also discussed the distinction between class- and race-based affirmative action.

"I feel like at Harvard we have a lot of superficial diversity. Most people who get to Harvard have had a lot of opportunities and a lot have had the same opportunities," said Michael E. Driscoll '98, one of about 45 students and parents in the audience.

He asked the panelists what suggestions they had for making affirmative action work for minority students who lack economic advantages.

The panelists responded with several suggestions, including expanding programs like midnight basketball and Headstart, and reevaluating need-blind admissions policies.

Bloodworth defended race-based affirmative action. "People do not have the historical context to understand that slavery only ended 5 generations ago and that segregation ended even more recently."

"We need to learn to interact with other people from our position in the world," he said.

HRC President Travis D. Wheatley '99 agreed that a diverse student body enhances the college experience.

"The benefit of affirmative action is that it brings people into situations they normally would not have been in," said Wheatley.

However, Wheatley opposed affirmative action in its present incarnation.

"We should focus our attention on equalizing the education of minorities who live in poor districts," he said. "Our misfocus gives us students who are not ready for college. We shouldn't have to compromise our standards in order to achieve diversity."

Most of the audience responded positively to the panel's discussion.

"I think the groundwork was laid for a healthy dialogue about affirmative action among students with a variety of perspectives," said Kent B. McNellie '99, chair of HPU.

The debate revealed panelists' deep concern over affirmative action policies.

"If I do achieve a lot in life, I think I will have a hard time enjoying my achievements because other people did not have the same advantages that I did," said panelist Shin Lin '98, secretary of the Chinese Students Association.

"I think we all share a goal to end discrimination, but differ on the means," Lin said.