LETTER: Minority students can now prove themselves on level playing field

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by Alejandro Gonzalez

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To the editor:

I sometimes wonder if I would be a student at Rice today were it not for the fact that I am Mexican-American.

I like to think I would be, but now I'm not so sure. This doubt stems from what I heard at Monday night's Student Association meeting where Malcolm Gillis addressed a recent ruling from the Fifth Circuit Court that bars universities from considering race when deciding whether to admit a particular student.

Chandler Davidson, professor of sociology and chairman of the Admissions Committee, explained that the ruling was handed down while the committee was still making admissions decisions for the class of 2000.

Because of the ruling, the committee decided to reconsider the already-accepted students for whom race had been a factor in allowing admission.

Their applications were reconsidered, this time without any consideration to race.

After this review, some students who had initially been put in the "accepted pile" were moved to the "rejected pile."

Am I the only one who finds this upsetting?

Once forced to ignore race, these students were suddenly not good enough for Rice.

Then why were they admitted in the first place?

Doesn't it bother anyone else to see that these students weren't good enough for Rice until we noticed their dark skin or Spanish surname? Does no one else think it's wrong that some non-minority student had been rejected because some other student's minority status gave him the edge?

Minority students should welcome this ruling. It is a chance to show that we can continue to get into schools like Rice, even if admission committees ignore race.

It would remove all doubt as to why we were accepted to Rice. I, unlike the class of 2000, don't have the benefit of knowing I'm here solely because I'm qualified.

Instead, I'm left wondering if race was the deciding factor in my acceptance.

Would I have been good enough if my name had been Alexander Smith instead of Alejandro Gonzalez?

If this decision had come down when I was applying to Rice, would I have been moved from the "accepted pile" to the "rejected pile?"

Thanks to affirmative action, I'll never know.

In closing, I say to the Admissions Council and every one else: My race/national origin is not an issue for me. It shouldn't be for you. It is time to become colorblind and realize that affirmative action has outlived its usefulness.

You're not doing me any favors by doing me favors.

To my fellow students of color, I say that perhaps our interests would be better served if we all devoted less energy to saving affirmative action and whining about "the man" and instead focused more time on doing real work and tackling useful issues.

You're black. You're Hispanic. That's great. Now move on.

Alejandro Gonzalez

Baker '97

This item appeared in the Opinion section of the March 29, 1996 issue.

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