Affirmative Action is a Step Toward Increasing Diversity
The Editorial Board

This past week, President Peter Stanley announced that Pomona College-along with other selective liberal arts schools across the nation-has added its name to amicus curiae brief which is being filed in the controversial Supreme Court cases the University of Michigan is involved in Gratz V. Bollinger, et al and Grutter V. Bollinger et al.

It isn't everyday that we witness Pomona declaring an official side on such a decidedly political issue; however, the right of colleges to use race as a factor in admissions is apparently important enough to prompt 28 similar selective, small schools to file a brief. We applaud Pomona's decision to support affirmative action.

However, despite Pomona's professed desire for cultural and racial diversity, the school still has a significant amount of work to do in order to achieve its goal; a large percentage of our population still consists of white, wealthy prep school students.

As the brief states, having a student body made up of varied cultures and races allows for students to educate each other (both in and out of the classroom) in different, and more comprehensive ways than would otherwise happen. Still, for whatever reason, the number of minority students enrolled at Pomona is still too low.

The admissions office is certainly active in recruiting more minority students to apply. Especially in the local Los Angeles area high schools, Pomona ensures that there are admissions or alumni representatives targeting and recruiting students. Once minority students are admitted, there are special prospective weekends for them to come stay at Pomona; the Admissions office even ensures that part of the minority prospective weekend consists of discussion about what it means to be a student of color at the Claremont Colleges.

So why do we see the numbers of minority students rising so slowly?

Perhaps it has something to do with the experience of minority students who do end up enrolling at Pomona. In recent years, there has been much debate about the tendency of minority students to segregate themselves into "racial cliques." People tend to get emotional about this trend, which often prevents the issue from being examined more deeply.

Instead of different groups accusing each other of isolating themselves, the Pomona community must examine why minority students might feel that need for separation. This discussion often tends to happen at Chicano/Latino Student Association, Office of Black Student Affairs or Pan-African Student Association retreats, but not always at Pomona as a whole. Is it a desire of some minority students to feel more comfortable with people who share their same racial and cultural experience, or is this an indication that Pomona is not doing all it can to promote an environment that allows for a healthy diversity?

How many minority students are involved in campus organizations, committees, or positions in leadership? Is there an effort being made by Senate, fraternities, or sports teams to appeal to all members of the student body? Although CLSA (and the other similar organizations) might provide a sponsor to go talk to about the feelings and problems that are part of a minority student's experience, there are other fundamental issues that are tied up with racial diversity that are not being addressed.

One example of a problem that gets overlooked is financial aid. Although Pomona is one of the most generous liberal arts schools when it comes to providing financial aid, there are financial considerations which the school doesn't always to example. For the minority students who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, there are expenses that financial aid does not cover, such as books or materials needed for class.

While most people obtain work-study jobs to pay for their personal expenses, that too can become a problem: how many students are struggling to balance their intense academic load with work-study jobs that can take up 18 hours of their time?

These types of problems are not solely tied to race and affirmative action; we need more diversity in terms of geography, economic background, sexual preference and academic concentrations. These problems are multi-faceted and there is no easy solution. By filing the amicus curiae brief Pomona is making a proactive step in affirming its commitment to diversity.