Wesleyan University, a prestigious private liberal arts college in Connecticut, declared on Wednesday that it will no longer take applicants’ ties to their families into account when deciding who to admit.
Wesleyan President Michael Roth highlighted the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action as the impetus for the university’s decision to formally cease admission preference for legacy candidates.
Joe Biden’s Stance On Legacy Admissions
There won’t be a “bump” in the selection process on Wednesday, but we still cherish the long-lasting connections that result from multigenerational Wesleyan participation.
Family members of alumni will be admitted on their own merits, as has been the norm for a long time.
Following the Supreme Court’s rejection of race-based affirmative action programs in college admissions last month, prominent schools and universities throughout the nation are under pressure to abolish another type of preference: giving prospective students with parents who attended the institution an advantage in the application process.
A civil rights organization petitioned the federal government shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision to compel Harvard University to stop providing alumni children precedence in the admissions process.
The White House, Congress, and many other Americans have criticized legacy preference as an unjust perk that favors rich and White candidates over less fortunate or applicants of race.
The court’s ruling was denounced by President Joe Biden, who also criticized legacy admissions as a process that increases privilege rather than opportunity.
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Legacy Preference In Higher Education
Higher education has a long history of this practice, particularly at private colleges.
More than 100 top schools, including the whole Ivy League, have stated that alumni-applicant relationships are taken into account when making admissions choices, according to a Washington Post investigation.
According to a Washington Post-Schar School study conducted in October, 75% of Americans believe it is improper for colleges to provide preference in admissions to applicants whose parents attended the same institution.
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