Michigan changes admissions process

Correction

A story in yesterday’s paper incorrectly reported the starting date for the University of Michigan’s new undergraduate admissions policy. It will apply to the Class of 2008.

The University of Michigan yesterday replaced its unconstitutional racial point system with an admissions program that gives academic factors “the most consideration” but still considers race.

“We have discarded the point system completely,” Michigan Provost Paul Courant said of the substitute plan, which he said de-emphasizes racial factors.

“We continue to believe in gathering a group of students that are very bright but different from one another. … Students from all walks of life and backgrounds,” Mr. Courant said.

The process for applications for the Class of 2009, to be filed by the Feb. 1, 2004, deadline, requires the same detailed racial disclosures about the candidate, but asks new questions about his or her family’s education and financial status.

The change most critics focused on yesterday is introduction of a mandatory “short essay” that examines attitudes on racial and ethnic diversity.

Applicants must choose whether to describe how their admission would contribute to “an academically superb and widely diverse educational community” or tell how a personal experience involving “cultural diversity — or a lack thereof” changed their lives.

“Factors that illustrate the student’s academic achievements and potential — including high school grades, standardized test scores, the choice of curriculum, and the student’s educational environment — will be given the most consideration” when considering admission to Michigan’s College of Literature, Science and the Arts.

That assurance did not convince Roger Clegg of the Center for Equal Opportunity, who called it unfortunate that race and ethnicity still will be considered.

“It’s also unfortunate that they’ve included an essay question that will probably be interpreted to require either that a student have the right skin color or that he recite a pledge of allegiance to diversity,” Mr. Clegg said.

Terence Pell, president of the Center for Individual Rights — which provided lawyers for the white students who challenged the university’s admissions policies — was noncommittal yesterday after reviewing an advance copy provided by the school.

“If race continues to trump most other admissions factors, the new system will be just as illegal as the system the court struck down,” Mr. Pell said.

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