Although the Board of Visitors at the University of Virginia considered dismantling the school s affirmative-action admissions policy a few months ago, it was ultimately left pretty much intact. Nonetheless, the number of black applicants to U.Va. dropped 25 percent this year. If you ask Rick Turner, the school s dean of African American Affairs, merely talking about ending affirmative action is one of the primary reasons black admissions are down. I agree with the dean on this point.
Rhetoric is a powerful tool.
I guess such relevant facts just aren t exciting enough to warrant earlier mention. This bleak story does have a ray of hope, however. A black alumnus of U.Va. has begun a drive to get fellow graduates to help recruit black high-school students to Charlottesville. I wish him luck, but he probably doesn t need it. No doubt one of the top selling points will be that U.Va.