We're continuing to release student statements after the Supreme Court decision, and assess how students are feeling on UNC's campus. If you are interested in contributing, please fill out our form at bit.ly/affirmdiversity.
"We need a protected future in diversity at UNC and every other higher ed option. As access to education has been racially divided and determined, it is of utmost importance that our schools continue making progress to true diversity. Even still, more white and privileged students are admitted to our schools every year, leaving behind more low income individuals who are full of talent, intelligence, and passion. We need them in our future and we need them to succeed. I will always stand behind diversity and creating access to communities who have been historically blocked from basic and necessary access. If we can’t have racial affirmative action, let’s make it class based. Either way, we need our underrepresented and overlooked communities involved in our schools and allow their experiences to guide our future for change." - Tashi Hacskaylo
"The end of race based affirmative action will lead to less BIPOC individuals in higher education, and that’s just true. Growing up in a predominantly white community, it was truly amazing coming to UNC and finding more diversity. We truly do learn from our peers, and I’m grateful for all that I’ve learned from students of different backgrounds. I hope UNC does something to ensure that we continue to have diverse students." - Anonymous
"This isn’t just heartbreaking; overturning affirmative action is deadly. Black and Brown folks will begin feeling the consequences of this decision immediately, but the impact will be long-lasting." - Laura Saavedra Forero
"This is a huge step backward in trying to make education fair and equal. In an application system built upon racial inequality, it is impossible to exclude race from the acceptance process without disproportionally harming minority groups. An SAT tutor, extracurriculars, sports, college essay editors, are all luxury and make the application process catered towards wealthier majority demographics. I attended a diverse high school and witnessed how diversity in the classroom opens up perspectives and ideas that I would never have otherwise considered. Going into college I completely understood why affirmative action was necessary. Diversity benefits everyone and affirmative action is necessary to increase opportunity for students who have not been fairly represented in higher education thus far." - Anonymous
"We have taken a dramatic step backwards in the cultivation of equitable academia and the effects will be felt for years to come." - Isaiah Standridge
"Affirmative action is integral to dismantling the generational and systemic oppression and racism in our educational systems and also in our society as a whole. Refusing to recognize where prejudice and systemic racism has impacted the agency and life chances of our students is only adding to the issue and will only serve to perpetuate it. As Kimberlé Crenshaw stated in connection to her concept of intersectionality, "Without frames that allow us to see how social problems impact all the members of a targeted group, many will fall through the cracks of our movements, left to suffer in virtual isolation. But it doesn't have to be this way." Affirmative action is just one frame to recognize the issues of oppression and racism that are at work in our society and allows us to break the cycle and encourage a more diverse student body where everyone gets a chance at an education despite structures of society that impede their way." - Anonymous
"The Supreme Court’s decision is absolutely ridiculous. Schools such as UNC are already predominantly white, and the recent decision will reduce any diversity we have with our student body. Awarding entry based solely on 'merit' does not account for the struggles that people of color have faced and continue to face." - Anonymous
"I think the overturning of affirmative action is an injustice for marginalized communities and will lead to further inequities." - Anonymous
"As I walk into WXYC, the college radio station I love so dearly, I can open up a scrapbook filled with newspaper articles about the organization. Countless headlines, from decades of newspaper publishing, repeat the same idea: the radio station is not racially diverse enough. If this was the case even with affirmative action, what happens now without it? Affirmative action is a necessary correction to the socioeconomic disadvantages placed on minority groups in this country, and the repeal of such measures results in a silencing of these groups. Potentially gone are my days of being the only person playing Indian pop music on the radio. Potentially gone are my days of canvassing for awareness of South asian events. And potentially gone are my days of having friends who look like me. The overturning of affirmative action at UNC is not just a revoking of opportunity, it is a revoking of community." - Arul Gundam
Comments