
Princeton math prof challenges admins 'systemic racism' narrative - _red
https://campusreform.org/?id=15658
======
byoung2
_Klainerman said that “to promote excellence in research and teaching, major
American universities have to develop policies that are blind to
considerations of race, ethnicity, religion, sex, socio-economic class and any
other factor not relevant to intellectual achievement.”_

Here is the problem with that logic. To say now in 2020 that the school should
be colorblind does nothing to address the systemic racism that existed for
hundreds of years. Princeton did not accept black students until after
WWII[1], so several generations of blacks were denied entrance, despite being
academically qualified. Their children and grandchildren are therefore denied
the benefits of legacy admission (which currently runs at about 30% acceptance
vs 5.8% for regular applicants[2]). In this example being colorblind still
hurts some students (or helps others, if you see it that way) solely based on
the color of their skin.

1\. [https://blogs.princeton.edu/reelmudd/2010/10/black-alumni-
lo...](https://blogs.princeton.edu/reelmudd/2010/10/black-alumni-looking-
back-1996/) 2\. [https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/college-
legacy/#:~:t...](https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/college-
legacy/#:~:text=Princeton%2C%20with%20its%20minuscule%205.8,grant%20favor%20to%20legacy%20applicants).

~~~
deogeo
And yet Black students are better represented than non-Jewish White students.
Princeton vs US demographics (in %), from most to least represented:

    
    
              Princeton  US    ratio
      Asian   20.9       5.3    3.94
      Jewish   8.0       2.15   3.72
      Black    7.7      12.7    0.61
      White   34.7      59.3    0.58
      Latino   9.5      17.6    0.54
    

Sources:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_Sta...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Jews](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Jews)
(using average of 2.15%)

[https://hillel.org/college-guide/list/record/princeton-
unive...](https://hillel.org/college-guide/list/record/princeton-university)

[https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/princeton-
university...](https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/princeton-
university/student-life/diversity/#secEthnic)

~~~
byoung2
_And yet Black students are better represented than non-Jewish White
students._

Google "Princeton Basketball Team" or "Princeton Football Team" and you will
see that Blacks are over-represented on these teams (27% to 30%). I suspect
many other sports are similar. You can see how colleges boost the number of
Black students in areas where it serves the interests of the school.

[https://goprincetontigers.com/sports/mens-
basketball/roster](https://goprincetontigers.com/sports/mens-
basketball/roster)
[https://goprincetontigers.com/sports/football/roster/2019](https://goprincetontigers.com/sports/football/roster/2019)

~~~
raxxorrax
Would you be in favor of restricting access of black students to ensure others
are represented more fairly?

I hope not.

