The American Psychological Association announced on August 7 that it will continue to support the implementation of “equity and inclusion” practices in higher education institutions.
The announcement came in light of the Supreme Court banning affirmative action in higher education admissions via Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina.
“[D]espite the Supreme Court’s decision and the constraints imposed by it, the APA encourages higher education institutions to create, maintain, and increase equitable admissions policies that continue to examine the individual holistically,” the statement said.
The Supreme Court’s decisions “will worsen underrepresentation of certain racial and ethnic groups at higher education institutions” outside of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), APA said.
APA called for initiatives to emphasize “equity and diversity” practices in schools such as “adversity scales,” meant for institutions to “consider the adversity a student has overcome when selecting among qualified applicants.”
The resolution, which passed by a vote of 142-6, called for other initiatives such as removing preferences for the “wealthy,” such as “donors and children of alumni,” reaching highschool students who have a low record “of sending applicants to their school,” covering full tuition in areas for students with $150,000 or less family income, building early college programs, and providing low-income high school students with academic support and admissions advice.
APA’s resolution resembles advice given by President Joe Biden in remarks after the Supreme Court decisions were handed down. “What I propose for consideration is a new standard, where colleges take into account the adversity a student has overcome when selecting among qualified applicants,” Biden said.
“It also means examining where the student grew up and went to high school,” Biden added. “It means understanding the particular hardships that each individual student has faced in life, including racial discrimination that individuals have faced in their own lives.”
In its own June 29 statement responding to the rulings, APA said the decisions will “impede” reaching “health equity in the United States.”
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“[T]oday’s decisions in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina undermine the ability of colleges, universities, and medical schools to build a workforce of healthcare professionals that can effectively treat the increasingly diverse body of patients they serve,” it added.
It continued by saying that a “holistic race-conscious admissions process” is effective in “assembling a diverse mental health workforce,” and is “critical” in allowing “providing quality mental healthcare for all.”
Campus Reform has reached out to APA, Students for Fair Admissions, Harvard University, and the University of North Carolina for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
Originally published by Campus Reform. Republished with permission.
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