Does a student body at a college or university need to parallel, even roughly, the demographics of the general population to ensure that students are exposed to people from diverse backgrounds?
Is the notion that a demographically representative college class makes for better education? Or is it a pretext that certain people deserve reparations?
Third alternative explanation: It is a pretext for doing good to make one's self feel better. That is, of course, closely tied to reparations but slightly different. Does a mixed class make for a better education? I'd argue that it makes for a better life experience/education, but not necessarily a better college education. Being in proximity to folks who are different from me can lead to a fuller understanding of them and that can enrich my life so a more diverse student body can lead to a better society but not necessarily from the college classroom as much as from the (ideally) more mixed social interactions.
Does a student body at a college or university need to parallel, even roughly, the demographics of the general population to ensure that students are exposed to people from diverse backgrounds? No, but it's a nice idea. However, if doing so leads to discrimination I think it is problematic.
Would it be okay for a college, to set itself up as a life experience based on a diverse community that accepts students based on who they are rather than academic standards? Could they then market it as a non-traditional school which might attract people who wanted a college degree but secondarily to exposure to a truly diverse student body? If so, could such an institution accept students based on color, sex, gender, left/right politics to create the mixed group?
Third alternative explanation: It is a pretext for doing good to make one's self feel better. That is, of course, closely tied to reparations but slightly different. Does a mixed class make for a better education? I'd argue that it makes for a better life experience/education, but not necessarily a better college education. Being in proximity to folks who are different from me can lead to a fuller understanding of them and that can enrich my life so a more diverse student body can lead to a better society but not necessarily from the college classroom as much as from the (ideally) more mixed social interactions.
Does a student body at a college or university need to parallel, even roughly, the demographics of the general population to ensure that students are exposed to people from diverse backgrounds? No, but it's a nice idea. However, if doing so leads to discrimination I think it is problematic.
Would it be okay for a college, to set itself up as a life experience based on a diverse community that accepts students based on who they are rather than academic standards? Could they then market it as a non-traditional school which might attract people who wanted a college degree but secondarily to exposure to a truly diverse student body? If so, could such an institution accept students based on color, sex, gender, left/right politics to create the mixed group?