Is affirmative action a college admissions policy? By: Megan LarrisonEvery spring, high school students across the country anxiously check their mailboxes, hoping to receive acceptance letters to their dream colleges. Typically, in a perfect world, college acceptance would be based on grades, SAT scores, letters of recommendation, character, extracurricular activities, and personal statements. Recently, however, another factor in the admissions process has become increasingly accepted; admission based on race. This new policy was put in place to give minority students a better opportunity to be accepted into better colleges. In the 1960s, when President Lynden B. Johnson sought to bring diversity to higher education in the United States and serve as a peace offering for past discriminatory treatments, the use of race in the application process was supported by some and opposed by others. Supporters of affirmative action argue that it is necessary to achieve diversity in education, which they say should be sought above all else, while opponents say that admissions based on race actually promotes racism and discrimination through the use of color of the skin in the admission policy. Since the introduction of race is a factor in acceptance, many people have questioned the legality of affirmative action. The Supreme Court has heard many cases related to race-based admissions and this continues today. Additionally, this essay will examine the differing opinions on whether or not race should be taken into account in college enrollment policies. In the past, minorities have been underrepresented and discriminated against on college campuses. Most of this is the result of Jim Crow segregation laws, which gave African Americans... half the paper... experts say there is no relationship between a better college environment as a result of diversity within of the campus. College campuses are essential to the educational process. Both sides use Supreme Court rulings to support affirmative action or to show that it is unconstitutional: I believe the best policy solution is race not to be used in enrollment when there are many more important factors to take into consideration when Admissions offices decide who to admit. As the Supreme Court ruled, college went like a quota system for admissions because it simply discriminates against a whole new group of people, plus that specific race of the applicant should have much less bearing on it than factors like grades, test scores and letters. of recommendation. Both opponents and supporters of race-based administrations agree that without cooperation this problem will never be solved.