The conservative Center for Equal Opportunity, a Virginia group opposed to affirmative action, has released a report concluding that UVa’s law school is the most discriminatory school in the country, preferring blacks applicants over whites at a rate of 730:1 in 1999. “At UVA, with an LSAT score of 160 and a GPA of 3.25, a black in-state male applicant in 1998 would have had a 96 percent chance of admission, versus only a 3 percent chance for identical Hispanic and white applicants, and a 7 percent chance for an identical Asian applicant.” Says the dean of UVa’s law school, “You can always find a statistic to make a point, and that’s what they’ve done.” The full study is available as a PDF. Eric Swensen has the story in today’s Progress.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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I recall a story in the Progress about 2-3 years ago in which it was mentioned that black applicants are 11,000% (or 110 times) more likely to be accepted to UVa than white applicants. I thought that number was striking until I saw that the odds at the law school are 730:1.
I don’t like racial preferences but I think that this study finds a point on a graph that while accurate does not convey the total picture. We could do the same with undergrads with football players, legacies, and offspring of politicans.
The converse is also true, for example in county schools much is made about the lack of diversity in the teaching staff in terms of race but the amount of minorities that apply are often vary small. And in the county system there is NEVER any mention of the amount of females teachers vs male teachers. If you look at the stats it looks like a real problem but if you go past the numbers you find no problem at all.
Figures lie and liars figure.
Have you read the report? It refers not just to preferences, but to massive preferences. Sure, stats can be manipulated by talented number crunchers, but these are pretty compelling figures, and the ratios are on the unbelievable side of huge, frankly.
Not all figures lie, and not all liars figure, you know.
These comments miss the point. For its first 180 years or so at U. Va. the ratio of white to black admissions was a perfect one hundred percent white, zero percent black. That is the legacy we live with. That is why the admissions policy is what it is. Would you like to say “that was then this is now?” Say it in another fifty years. And if you conclude from these statistics that black lawyers must be stupider than white lawyers, you should realize just how amazingly stupid college-boy grind white lawyers really are. In a lawyer I will take common sense and real-world experience over book smarts any day of the week.
Silly me – I wasn’t aware that the Commonwealth of Virginia had agreed to reparations in such a manner, and was under the apparently wrong impression that raced-based quotas were recently ruled unconstitutional regarding college admissions (Bakke).
My bad.
Do you mean that Bakke is recent–a case decided 24 years ago? um, okay…
Do you mean that the report of the “Center for Equal Opportunity” alleges that there are race-based quotas at UVA? I read the report–it doesn’t say anything about quotas at UVA law school.
So, what are you talking about?
I have a question (it’s a sincere one). According to this report, we’re talking about equally qualified applicants–it’s not saying that UVA is letting less qualified black applicants in ahead of more qualified white/Asian/Hispanic applicants.
So if it’s a matter of having more qualified applicants than you have spots for, then the university has to make some decision about how to pick and choose among them. UVA has decided to make race one of their deciding factors. I’d like to hear what people think UVA should use instead of race as a deciding factor. I mean, it has to be something–if not race, then what?
So if it’s a matter of having more qualified applicants than you have spots for, then the university has to make some decision about how to pick and choose among them. UVA has decided to make race one of their deciding factors. I’d like to hear what people think UVA should use instead of race as a deciding factor. I mean, it has to be something–if not race, then what?
Set higher standards, for one. To use an undergraduate example (that’s all I know), imagine that their sole qualification is a 1300 on the SATs, and they’re getting 40,000 qualified applicants each year. Would it be unreasonable to demand a 1550 on the SATs, and have an extremely intelligent (if you believe that the SATs indicate such things) group of 1,000 students that make up the incoming bodies.
To continue with the undergrad approach (again, because what I don’t know about graduate school is a lot), you could consider the strength of recommendations. Or extra-curricular activities. Or grades in the applicant’s education thus far. Or their essay.
Perhaps use a similar approach as with a company hiring employees. When a company is seeking employees, they generally seek the most qualified employees. Not the employee that’s somewhat qualified but, hey, they’re Muslim.
Anyhow, those a few suggestions for approaches that don’t involve the race checkbox.
I can’t tell you how happy I am to see that there are good groups like the European-American Unity Rights Organization and the Center for Equal Opportunity who are working to put the black man back in his place. The black man in this country gets all the benefits and the white man is paying for them. Thank you Daily Progress and thank you Waldo for injecting some common sense back into the mess we call race relations (but are really race oppressions) in this country.
Uh…dude, don’t relate me or the Progress to “working to put the black man back in his place.” I can’t tell if you’re trolling or you actually believe what you’re saying, but in either case I don’t want anything to do with it.
Go back under your bridge, your billy goats need tending to.
Wake up, scumbag… the “War of Northern Aggression” ended at Appomattox, and YES, your side lost. Then again, you might not know that… most racist rednecks never bothered to learn how to read.
Do you use starch in your white sheets?
Where’d this raging idiot pop up from… yuch.
Waldo, thanks for a great resource…