Trump Admin Cuts Deal to End Racial Discrimination in Admissions at Texas Tech University
Shane Trejo
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The Department of Education’s Civil Rights Division is putting an end to the discrimination inherent in Texas Tech University’s admission policies.
The Wall Street Journal broke the news today that the Trump administration reached an agreement with Texas Tech University in February to effectively end the use of racial quotas in the school’s admissions. This formally concludes a 14-year federal investigation into Texas Tech’s use of affirmative action.
This is the first instance where the Trump administration directly intervened to convince a university to change their racist admissions policy. It is speculated that Education Secretary Betsy Devos could be expanding this to other universities, but they have not yet released an official statement regarding this deal and its potential impact on other schools.
This isn’t the only way the Trump administration is pushing for equality on campus. In July, Trump’s Education Department removed guidelines enacted by the Obama administration encouraging schools to navigate around the law to give minority students special privileges in the name of diversity.
“Learning environments comprised of students from diverse backgrounds provide an enhanced educational experience for individual students,” the Obama-era guidance read. “By choosing to create this kind of rich academic environment, educational institutions help students sharpen their critical thinking and analytical skills.”
Obama’s platitudes imply that affirmative action helps minorities, but a case in Harvard that Trump’s administration is championing shows that flies in the face of the conventional wisdom on this issue.
Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) is supporting a group of Asian-American students who believe they were discriminated against by Harvard University on a racial basis. Although Harvard denies the effect of their policies, Trump’s DOJ has compiled evidence showing that Asian-Americans are put at a systemic disadvantage due to racist affirmative action policies.
“The evidence, moreover, shows that Harvard provides no meaningful criteria to cabin its use of race; uses a vague ‘personal rating’ that harms Asian-American applicants’ chances for admission and may be infected with racial bias; engages in unlawful racial balancing; and has never seriously considered race-neutral alternatives in its more than 45 years of using race to make admissions decisions,” DOJ attorneys wrote in their statement of interest about the case.
It is clear that President Trump is serious about ending racism in the educational system. Because of Trump’s policy changes, education will become more of a meritocracy rather than a guilt-induced liberal giveaway to certain privileged victim groups.
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