Colleges Should Stop Using the Essay to Screen for Ideology |
In the sad history of the progressive conquest of American education, the first line of attack was hiring faculty who were enthusiastic about advancing leftist beliefs. More recently, admissions offices have prioritized students with a social-justice bent, or who might be open to one. In that effort, the student admission essay plays a key role since it can provide clues about student political orientation.
In today’s Martin Center article, Liza Libes argues that schools should use the essay to hunt for intellectual talent, not ideological conformity.
The American college-admissions essay was born in the early 1920s, when a growing demand for higher education prompted elite colleges such as Harvard and Yale to identify additional methods to screen incoming college freshmen. The first iteration of the college essay focused less on academic potential than on the nebulous designation of “fit.” In 1919, Columbia University — my alma mater — unveiled the first “modern” college application, requiring applicants to provide information on their religious values and other metrics that allowed admissions officers to evaluate applicants on the basis of not just intellectual potential but of ideological conformity. As a result, the college-essay process soon became a racist endeavor meant to weed out “undesirable” candidates of Jewish origin, on the grounds that these students would not be a good “fit” for an educational environment driven by Protestant values.
The American college-admissions essay was born in the early 1920s, when a growing demand for higher education prompted elite colleges such as Harvard and Yale to identify additional methods to screen incoming college freshmen. The first iteration of the college essay focused less on academic potential than on the nebulous designation of “fit.” In 1919, Columbia University — my alma mater — unveiled the first “modern” college application, requiring applicants to provide information on their religious values and other metrics that allowed admissions officers to evaluate applicants on the basis of not just intellectual potential but of ideological conformity. As a result, the college-essay process soon became a racist endeavor meant to weed out “undesirable” candidates of Jewish origin, on the grounds that these students would not be a good “fit” for an educational environment driven by Protestant values.
Unfortunately, “fit” now means whether the student seems eager to become a social-justice warrior. Those who might hold conservative or libertarian views are not favored.
Libes continues, “After decades of fighting against discriminatory admissions practices disguised as filters for ‘character’ and ‘belonging,’ our society has begun once again to evaluate college applicants on the basis of arbitrary values, reenvisioning the college-admissions process as a convoluted exercise in virtue-signaling.”
Even though most colleges say that they are merely looking for the best students, Libes is skeptical. She knows how deeply the progressive mindset has penetrated.
Read the whole thing.