HARVARD PROFESSOR DISCUSSES THE BENEFITS OF DIVERSITY

By Samantha Schaefer

Harvard law professor Lani Guinier was invited to speak about the problem of diversity in higher education to conclude the symposium for the College Access Project for African Americans at the UCLA Hammer Museum on Friday evening.

The College Access Project, a six-year research project conducted by the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, focuses on black students’ access to and equality in colleges.

“People think there’s a trade-off between diversity and excellence,” said Darnell Hunt, director of the Bunche Center. “There is a lot of evidence to show it’s a myth, but it hasn’t circulated in the media or the community, and we’re working on showing it’s a myth and better communicating the findings of our research.”

The symposium on Friday brought together members of the research team and media. Hunt said the goal of the day was to find an effective way to communicate the research to both the media and the community.

The project has included a number of studies in areas such as affirmative action, disparities in access to resources in high schools and alternative curricula in the K-12 school system.

Researchers examined how diversity in high schools positively impacts a student’s choice about employment later in life and how the assessment of a student’s potential with grade point averages and SAT scores impacts admission to higher education, as well.

During the symposium, researchers also discussed the system of meritocracy, defined in a Bunche Center report as “a system in which opportunity and progress rest on rewarding ability and talent.”

The remainder of this story can be found at UCLA's The Daily Bruin.