How SCOTUS decision on affirmative action could impact Hawaii colleges
By Paul Drewes
Click here for updates on this story
HONOLULU (KITV) — While U.S. Supreme Court justices debate the legality of college admission programs that take race into account – in order to expand educational diversity, diversity is something students already experience at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
“I came to UH for the diversity, to meet people with different backgrounds, said UH Freshman Alex Gallardo.
“Diversity adds a wealth of experience that no classroom could bring any student,” said UH Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Nikki Chun.
“If you aren’t in a diverse environment, you aren’t getting different perspectives,” added UH graduate student Kelea Reed.
She recently moved to Manoa and part of her attraction to UH was its student body made up of various races and cultures.
“I recently transferred because I wanted to be around students who looked like me,” stated Reed.
At issue at the Supreme Court, is affirmative action in the application process.
Some students may have lower academic records but could end up with higher admission scores, partly because of their race and the university’s efforts to diversify its student body.
Chun said that is not the case at UH.
“Our decisions are holistic. Race is something we consider, but is not a deciding factor in admissions,” added Chun.
As part of its campus, UH has a separate center for Native Hawaiian students and Chun would like even more to apply.
But some minority students feel even in this diverse environment, other ethnicities are left out of learning.
“There are certain communities here that aren’t getting the same access to education. Our goal is to increase Filipino and Pacific Islanders who are not going. Filipinos are not matriculating from community colleges to Manoa and college isn’t always an option for them,” said UH graduate student Breanna Agas.
Hawaii Pacific University prides itself on student diversity, boasting 67% of students are non-white minorities.
“We are looking for students who are adventurous and who have a lot of grit. Who do well in the classroom and in the community,” said Greg Grauman, HPU Vice President of Enrollment Management.
Like UH, HPU uses more than just grade point averages and test scores to rate applying students. It also looks to see if they will be a good fit for the school and its learning environment.
“It is important to hear the individual stories of students to get context for what their experiences may be. The importance of being able to consider many different factors of our holistic approach, race or ethnicity can be important to the review process,” added Grauman.
HPU filed a brief in the Supreme Court cases in support of universities whose affirmative action admission policies are under attack. Like many other schools, it will wait for the Supreme Court decision.
If affirmative action is ruled illegal next year, it will change its current admission process.
“I can’t imagine that any university would throw out the holistic review process, but will make modifications to make sure it is legal,” said Grauman.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
