:: Netmarcos' Notes ::

:: Thursday, April 03, 2003 ::

The diversity debate continues on the Wall Street Journal Op/Ed page.


Diversity. Everyone talks about it. Everyone pledges support for it. It has become a civic religion. It is the backbone of the University of Michigan's legal argument before the Supreme Court this week: that racial discrimination is acceptable if the purpose is to achieve diversity.

But what if diversity isn't all it's cracked up to be? What if it actually has a negative impact when its adherents pursue it too zealously?

Those are the questions raised by a study conducted by three distinguished political scientists who surveyed 1,600 students and 2,400 faculty members and administrators at 140 institutions of higher learning. The authors are Stanley Rothman, a professor at Smith College, Neil Nevitte of the University of Toronto and Seymour Martin Lipset of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Mr. Lipset has formerly headed the American Sociological Association as well as the American Political Science Association. In reporting on their findings, the New York Times acknowledged that "the study's authors have earned respect from academics on all sides of the affirmative action debate."
As they say, "Read it all."

Update: Stanley Kurtz has more coverage here.

:: Mark 9:04 AM [+] ::
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