UH announced plans to raise admission standards last Wednesday. The move was a next-day response to the voter’s voice concerning Proposition 4.
Proposition 4 was written to strengthen Texas universities through an individual research university fund. The fund’s purpose by design is to assist in propelling a university to flagship status and making it a prominent, nationally competitive higher learning institution.
With the good news of Proposition 4 passing comes bad news in the form of fear and doubts. Many are debating whether more stringent admission standards will reduce diversity. Provost John Antel dismissed this concern of higher standards diminishing diversity.
‘Higher standards will attract better students, increase graduation rates and improve the University’s reputation,’ Antel said in an article by Jeannie Kever published in the Houston Chronicle.
Raising the bar does not mean that an institution will lose diversity. Simply saying that race has a direct correlation to mental capacity is something we should strive to refute.
SGA President Kenneth Fomunung voiced concerns that more rigorous standards could present an unfair challenge and hurt UH’s diversity. The idea that higher standards eliminate an ethnically diverse student body seems to be a direct assault on certain races.
In response to Fomunung’s concerns, which are shared by many students, Antel assured the SGA president that diversity would continue to be focused on.
‘Ethnicity and race will be considered during individual admission reviews of students who don’t otherwise qualify,’ Antel said.
For UH to achieve flagship status, it’ has to raise acceptance standards. Attributing race to learning difficulties or lower intelligence is not an excuse. The University has an obligation to make sure everyone has a right to education, but not an obligation to make everyone the same offer.
Jackie Robinson, the first black player in Major League Baseball, once said the playing field needed leveling. From there, people rise or fall on their own merits. From there, it has nothing to do with a person’s skin color.
Community colleges and UH-Downtown are great places to start if you need more time and help. Both have lower acceptance qualifications and serve as great starting points for a higher education.
The idea that one race is superior to others in terms of mental capacity shortchanges those other races and nationalities. The color of a person’s skin is not an indicator of more or less intelligence, nor does it matter from where your family tree originates.
These new standards, which will continue to adjust to population growth, will make our University and degrees more prestigious and valuable.’ Meanwhile, our school will stay diverse. Just watch.
Andrew Taylor is an economics junior and may be reached at [email protected]
