Posted: Tuesday, August 7, 2007 12:00 am
As August creeps towards its final days, university students across the state are already starting to turn their thoughts to returning to campuses, hitting the books and readying themselves for careers.
Some of those students will be minority students, as well they should be.
Just as the Wisconsin idea espouses the theme that the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state, we would like to think that the makeup of the student body on our campuses reflects the diversity of people within those boundaries if our colleges are to truly serve the interests of the state.
Rising costs of a college education have made financing increasingly difficult for all students across the state - and their families - but that burden is particularly acute for minority students who often come from low-income sectors.
Getting into a good college and being able to afford to stay in are real concerns.
Minority students got a bit of help in the first category recently when state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen issued an informal opinion saying that University of Wisconsin campuses can use an applicant's race as one of many factors in its admission process.
Van Hollen had been importuned by Republican lawmakers to dismiss the UW Board of Regents admissions policy based on a 1974 law that said no "tests based upon race" shall be allowed into admissions requirements.
In his opinion, Van Hollen said that it was clear lawmakers didn't mean "anything except to prohibit the use of race as a disqualification for admission."
We would hope that's the end of this, but at least one GOP lawmaker has vowed to introduce legislation to change the law.
Given the current makeup of the Legislature and the governor's office, that effort probably will falter and that's good - good not only for students from ethnic and racial minority groups who see the value of a college education and want to succeed, but for the rest of the student populace as well since a diverse campus is more representative of the real world in which they will ultimately go to work - a world made up of many different ethnic groups and races.
Indeed, some businesses that recruit have reportedly raised concerns that the lack of diversity on some campuses may hamper the ability of students to work and communicate effectively in a global marketplace.
We hope for the day when the playing field is level for all races and the consideration of under-representation of one racial or ethnic group is no longer a factor in Wisconsin admissions or those of any college or university.
But that day has not yet come.