Affirmative action ruling shakes U.S. universities over more than race: NYT

NEW YORK, July 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to effectively end race-conscious admissions in higher education last month was historic in its own right, removing a tool that the nation's colleges have used for decades to increase racial diversity on their campuses, reported The New York Times (NYT) on Wednesday.

But what started with affirmative action has morphed into a far broader reconsideration of fairness and privilege in college admissions and what it means for American higher education, said the report.

"Already, especially at elite colleges, there is widespread discussion of the role of legacy admissions, preferences for family members of donors, and of who benefits from athletic scholarships," said the report.

At a "National Summit on Equal Opportunity in Higher Education" in Washington on Wednesday, more than 100 academics, government officials and education administrators focused on how much is now up for grabs well beyond affirmative action, according to the report.

Given the court's ruling on affirmative action, officials at the conference discussed the importance of developing and expanding other tools to achieve diversity. Those include recruiting through academic enrichment programs for talented low-income students, improving financial aid, initiating so-called direct admissions, bringing disadvantaged students to campus to generate interest, and making it easier for community college students to transfer to four-year colleges, the report said.

"As successful as race-conscious admissions have been in creating a pipeline for Black and Hispanic Americans to leadership positions, some social scientists suggested that it also allowed colleges to shirk a broader responsibility to facilitate social mobility," added the report.