Dear Mr. Santos ;
Regarding your report " U.Va. race complaint"
[here],
what we have in essence is a case of flawed numbers and even
more flawed foes ; the old saying , " figures can lie
and liars figure" , seem applicable . The foes
here are some of the same disingenuous anti
progressive cabal (Center for Equal Opportunity , National
Association of Scholars , Center for Individual Rights , American
Civil Rights Institute ) that pays Ward Connerly a million dollars
a year to rail against affirmative action , have produced a
decline in African-American college students at some
campuses and contributed to our nation's racial discord .
As you know, U. Va. and many other major public institutuion
go to great lengths to recruit scholarship athletes . Did the
1026 average SAT for admitted black students include
black scholarship athletes ? Scholar athletes typically
have lower test scores then the general student body .
On most non-HBCU campuses , black scholarship athletes will have
a bigger impact on The black student average than is the
case for their white athlete counterpart on their respective
racial cohort . Typically on such campuses , black
student athletes will be a higher percentage of the black student body
than is the case for white athletes , hence a disproportionate
impact .
I point this out not to single out athletes , but to make a point . A
good Journalist will not only report numbers but help
readers understand , potential distortions and hidden
circumstances in such numbers
Further , As the book "The Shape of the River" by William
Bowen, former president of Princeton, and Derek Bok, former president
of Harvard reveals , judging college student
populations by test scores is flawed as a means of
predicting black student success rates during college and in
life .
Lastly , higher test scores overall tend to track
with parental income, and as such , says
more about the ability to receive test coaching and good
K-12 education then it does about a student potential
.
- Greg Fuller, a BrownWatch Contributor