Conservative Students Applaud 'Race-Neutral' Policy at Texas A&M
by Jim Brown
December 9, 2003
(AgapePress) - A conservative student group at Texas A&M University is praising a decision by the school's president to drop affirmative action in admissions.A&M president Robert Gates recently announced that the school would not use race as a factor in admissions or scholarships. The former CIA director said students should be admitted "as individuals, on personal merit -- and no other basis."
Matt Maddox, a student at A&M and president of the Young Conservatives of Texas A&M, says for the most part, his group is pleased with the decision.
"We were surprised at his reaction," Maddox says. "I might add that Gates has stated that he has laid out a plan to recruit along the lines of race -- that was something that we did expect to see -- so he didn't remain 100 percent race-neutral. But we were surprised that he didn't include race as a factor in admissions."
Maddox says unlike Gates and other A&M officials, his group does not endorse mandatory essay questions that ask applicants to discuss hardships they have encountered in their life. He also believes the policy announced by Gates is supported by most of the students in College Station.
"I believe overwhelmingly [that] the student population at A&M, both minority and non-minority, disagrees with the idea of affirmative action or racial preferences in admissions," he says. "I think that's part of the reason why Gates took the road he did -- the high road of being race-neutral."
The Young Conservatives recently criticized the A&M administration for creating a "Vice President of Institutional Diversity" position on campus. (See Related Article)
