A Quota on Excellence? – Don T. Nakanishi

Herman Sok
Section 001
Week 3

                Professor Valverde in a lecture stated that she does not like seeing yellow everywhere at the university. Valverde’s statement resonates after reading Don T. Nakanishi’s “A Quota on Excellence?” because this piece exposes unfairness directed towards Asian Americans in the university admittance process. Nakanishi presents data showing capped university admittance rates of Asian American applications that were constantly lower that “whites”. Nakanishi then presents rationales and policies that universities used to justify their admittance patterns. On the one hand, universities are independent entities and industries. Thus, they have their right to choose their students. On the other hand, considering students based on ethnicity over merits and excluding certain Asian American faculty in the admission process is unjust. Education should be free and fair. This is difficult to enforce, perhaps some more transparency in the admission process is due.
                Nakanishi spoke of a certain point in time when universities will not tolerate a certain amount of Asian American presence. I personally have not cared for university admittance rates since my senior year of high school. I was admitted into UC Davis and will be graduation soon. I wondered if this topic was an issue related to me. I guess I am bothered because I wish for the future generations of students to have a fair opportunity at higher education.

Is there a reason why public and private universities tend to limit Asian American admittance? Does it really matter?