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News: Woman goes to Supreme Court against University of Texas
Member Since: 2/16/2012
Posts: 8,740
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Woman goes to Supreme Court against University of Texas
(CNN) - The young woman at the center of the Supreme Court challenge to the University of Texas' affirmative action policy was a good high school student, an accomplished musician and a frequent volunteer, according to information released by her legal team.
When Abigail Noel Fisher filed the lawsuit challenging the rejection of her application to the school in 2008, she was a senior ranked 82nd in her class of 674 at Stephen F. Austin High School in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land, according the lawsuit she filed against the university.
Her academic record placed her in the top 12% of her classmates, and the school recognized her for academic excellence in each of her three years for scoring above 80% in all of her classes, according to the complaint.
She participated in math competitions and also was an accomplished cellist, according to her lawsuit. She was co-president of her high school orchestra and played in city and regional youth orchestras, according to the complaint.
She was also an active volunteer, having worked with Habitat for Humanity and used her musical skills to play holiday music at a nearby nursing home, among other efforts, the lawsuit indicates.
She included those details in her application to the university, but was nevertheless rejected under a program for students who don't land in the very top tier academically. Such students are automatically selected for admission.
"I was devastated," The New York Times quoted her as saying in a story published Monday, in what the newspaper said was her first interview since the university turned her down.
"I dreamt of going to UT ever since the second grade," she said in a video interview released by her lawyers to bolster her case in September. "My dad went there, my sister went there and tons of friends and family, and it was a tradition I wanted to continue."
Instead, she went on to study finance at Louisiana State University, where she recently graduated, according to The New York Times. She is working as a financial analyst in Austin, according to the newspaper.
"The only thing I missed out on was my post-graduation years," the newspaper quoted her as saying. "Just being in a network of U.T. graduates would have been a really nice thing to be in. And I probably would have gotten a better job offer had I gone to U.T."
In the video interview released by her lawyers, she said she doesn't like any form of discrimination.
"I was taught from the time I was a little girl that any kind of discrimination was wrong. And for an institution of higher learning to act this way makes no sense to me," she said.
"If people say anything about me, I hope they say I didn't take this sitting down," she said in the interview. "I didn't accept the process because the process is wrong."
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/10/us/aff...ction-profile/
She got an 1800 on the SAT (1200 on the old) and she's complaining that she went to LSU (which is still a good school)
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Member Since: 10/16/2005
Posts: 16,872
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Who dreams of going to UT?
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Member Since: 2/16/2012
Posts: 8,740
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Quote:
Originally posted by vuelve88
Who dreams of going to UT?
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Tons of people. Same with A&M.
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Member Since: 2/16/2012
Posts: 8,740
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She's claiming that they didnt accept her over race.
Quote:
Fisher's case will be heard by the justices Wednesday. The question here could come down to whether a majority on the bench believes affirmative action has run its course -- no longer necessary in a country that has come far to confront its racially divisive past, a country that has a president who is African-American.
"There's a good chance that affirmative action, at least in the case of education, is on the chopping block," said Thomas Goldstein, a Washington appellate attorney and SCOTUSblog.com editor.
"The Supreme Court 10 years ago approved the use of race as a factor. But it's just changed. (Now-retired Justice) Sandra Day O'Connor isn't there and she was the decisive vote. And the current conservative majority is just very suspicious of the use of race in government decision-making."
At issue: do the flagship state universities' race-conscious admission policies violate the rights of white applicants?
The timing of the arguments is not lost in a presidential election year, as the justices wade gently into this divisive issue. The court and its recent rulings on health care reform and illegal immigration have ensured that the court -- however it decides the Texas appeal -- will be a major campaign issue. A ruling in this petition, however, will not likely be issued until at least early 2013.
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Fisher individually sued the state university after her college application was rejected in 2008 when she was a high school senior in Sugar Land, Texas. She claims the individualized, discretionary admission policies violate her rights, and favor African-American and Hispanic applicants over whites and Asian-Americans.
The state of Texas provides for a hybrid admission policy: automatic acceptance to its university's main campus in Austin for in-state students finishing in the top 10% of their high schools, ensuring a measure of nonsubjective diversity. Three-fourths of the in-state student body gets in this way.
Fisher just missed that opportunity, so had to compete in a separate pool of students seeking to attend the highly competitive school. It is that a selection process that is before the court.
"If any state action should respect racial equality, it is university admissions," she and her lawyers told the high court in their written brief. "Selecting those who will benefit from the limited places available at universities has enormous consequences."
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Member Since: 2/6/2010
Posts: 27,892
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I don't get it. Is she a minority?
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Member Since: 2/16/2012
Posts: 8,740
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Quote:
Originally posted by GaGaFan
I don't get it. Is she a minority?
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She's white. She's claiming Asians/Hispanics/Blacks get in easier than whites.
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Member Since: 10/16/2005
Posts: 16,872
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Quote:
Originally posted by RastaMentality
Tons of people. Same with A&M.
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Meh.
With her involvement in extracurricular activities and volunteering, I think she probably had her eyes set on top tier schools, as well as UT. She likely was not admitted to any of her top picks because of her somewhat low grades and SAT score. Then she probably decided to pick a bone with UT.
Sure, not being admitted to a school sucks, but you can't always blame the school as being at fault for not choosing you. I got rejected from San Jose State University. lol I didn't turn around and file a lawsuit.
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Member Since: 6/1/2011
Posts: 10,384
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Quote:
Originally posted by vuelve88
Meh.
With her involvement in extracurricular activities and volunteering, I think she probably had her eyes set on top tier schools, as well as UT. She likely was not admitted to any of her top picks because of her somewhat low grades and SAT score. Then she probably decided to pick a bone with UT.
Sure, not being admitted to a school sucks, but you can't always blame the school as being at fault for not choosing you. I got rejected from San Jose State University. lol I didn't turn around and file a lawsuit.
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Right? Like, I definitely didn't get into a few schools I thought were "safeties." You didn't get in. Deal with rejection. It's healthy.
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Member Since: 12/9/2009
Posts: 13,069
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Quote:
Originally posted by vuelve88
She likely was not admitted to any of her top picks because of her somewhat low grades and SAT score. Then she probably decided to pick a bone with UT.
Sure, not being admitted to a school sucks, but you can't always blame the school as being at fault for not choosing you. I got rejected from San Jose State University. lol I didn't turn around and file a lawsuit.
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I think it's wrong to assume these things. You don't know if any of this is true.
I can see her point tbh, affirmative action has never sat well with me
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Member Since: 4/2/2012
Posts: 278
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I don't like affirmative action... It results in stuff like this. Nothing wrong with allowing exchange students or helping those who are worse off, but accepting or rejecting people solely off of race really seems wrong to me. I don't think we can't solve racism by reverse discrimination.
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Member Since: 6/25/2010
Posts: 18,931
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If she wanted to get in so much she should have tried harder and gotten better grades/scores. No one to blame but herself.
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Banned
Member Since: 6/25/2011
Posts: 37,192
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She didn't get in because she wasn't top 10%, not because of a minority. EVERYONE knows UT is overstuffed with top 10% students.
That's SUCH a Texas way to think. When I didn't get into Yale/Brown a few of my mom's friends insinuated (to her face) it was because I was white, and she got PISSED at them.
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Member Since: 10/20/2009
Posts: 20,682
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Quote:
Originally posted by vuelve88
Who dreams of going to UT?
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I really wanted to go to Texas.
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Member Since: 10/16/2005
Posts: 16,872
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Quote:
Originally posted by Rated R
I really wanted to go to Texas.
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LOL. I'm sorry. I really have no idea about UT. When applying to schools, I based most of my decisions on U.S. News & World Report's list of top colleges and basically just went down the list.
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Originally posted by Jameson Teqkilla
She didn't get in because she wasn't top 10%, not because of a minority. EVERYONE knows UT is overstuffed with top 10% students.
That's SUCH a Texas way to think. When I didn't get into Yale/Brown a few of my mom's friends insinuated (to her face) it was because I was white, and she got PISSED at them.
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Yeah, I doubt the same girl would have dared file the same lawsuit against Yale or Brown.
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Member Since: 2/16/2012
Posts: 8,740
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Quote:
Originally posted by TN05
I don't like affirmative action... It results in stuff like this. Nothing wrong with allowing exchange students or helping those who are worse off, but accepting or rejecting people solely off of race really seems wrong to me. I don't think we can't solve racism by reverse discrimination.
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It's not reverse discrimination when there's waaaaaaaaaay more white people in college than any other race. This girl didnt even do that well on her SAT
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Member Since: 2/16/2012
Posts: 8,740
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Quote:
Originally posted by Newt
I think it's wrong to assume these things. You don't know if any of this is true.
I can see her point tbh, affirmative action has never sat well with me
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No, that's what it IS. UT has too many Top 10% kids that they lowered it to 7% so they can give other kids a chance. In 2008, it was 10% so it's her fault she didnt do as well. TONS of minority kids get into top 10%.
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Member Since: 4/2/2012
Posts: 278
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Quote:
Originally posted by RastaMentality
It's not reverse discrimination when there's waaaaaaaaaay more white people in college than any other race. This girl didnt even do that well on her SAT
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Maybe that's because there are way more white people than any other race, or because there are so many illiterate minorities or those growing up in one-parent households in the hood.
If you look at it, 53% of Latino children and 73% of black children are born out of wedlock as compared to 29% of white children. It is really hard to get a good house, let alone have enough money to go to a good college, when you are living in a single-parent, poor household. Blacks make up 13% of the population but black males commit 37% of the murders and are 49% of the murder victims. The glorification of the 'gangster' lifestyle is ruining the opportunity of young black kids, as they get caught up in gangs and drugs, and that leads to even worse things.
It is very, very hard to escape that lifestyle or get out of it and that is quite sad. It is an issue that really needs to be dealt with. But it it doesn't help to punish people who have done nothing wrong for no other reason than the color of their skin. Most of the problems aren't because of race, but instead of living situation, culture, and crime. So having racial quotas isn't really fair, because it is going to result in deserving people getting rejected for no other reason than their race. We shouldn't be making out decisions because of race - we should be making them because someone deserves it or because of the content of your character.
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Banned
Member Since: 6/25/2011
Posts: 37,192
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Not being accepted into a college isn't a "punishment." How can you possibly prove this girl wasn't let into UT for her race? Her stats aren't even THAT competitive. If she wanted to go so badly she should have worked harder to be top ten percent.
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Banned
Member Since: 6/25/2011
Posts: 37,192
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Quote:
Originally posted by Newt
I think it's wrong to assume these things. You don't know if any of this is true.
I can see her point tbh, affirmative action has never sat well with me
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So we shouldn't assume she didn't get in for her academics, but we can assume she didn't get in because of affirmative action.
Sounds logical.
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Member Since: 6/25/2010
Posts: 18,931
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Oh, god. I'm sick and not even gonna try with most of y'all. Lemme go steal **** that conveys what I want to express.
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FACTS about UT Affirmative Action Supreme Court Case
So I read through the University of Texas at Austin explanation of admissions policy. 75% of students get accepted automatically because Texas has a top 10 percent rule, where if you’re in the top ten percent of your class you’re automatically admitted. The other 25% of students are admitted based on a holistic review.
Abigail Fisher the White girl suing the University of Texas at Austin said she was rejected because of her race. Well if you look at UT’s admission produces that claim is almost statistically impossible. Let me break it down for everyone.
If you’re not in the top 10 percent your given a holistic score based on two factors: Academic Index (which includes GPA, SAT, class rank, etc) and Personal Achievement Index.
Personal Achievement Index is determined by three components: Essay 1 score, Essay 2 score, and Personal Achievement Score.
Personal Achievement Score is calculated by taking into account six equally-weighted factors: leadership potential, extracurricular activities, honors and awards, work experience, community service, and special circumstances.
Special circumstances is then determined by taking into account seven additional factors which include family household income, single parent home, family responsibilities, overcoming adversity, cultural awareness, other relevant information, and race.
Therefore race is one-seventh of one-sixth of one-third of one-half of your total holistic score. So it’s almost statistically impossible for race alone to have been the deciding factor!
Sidenote: the UT brief notes that Abigail Fisher would NOT have been admitted to the Fall 2008 freshman class even if she had received a perfect Personal Achievement Index score of 6. WHY? Because her Academic Achievement Index was not high enough…..SO BASICALLY, she just wasn’t good enough.
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“This young woman and her supporters seem not to understand how much she’s apparently been given in life already. To be born white and middle class in the United States, with a college-educated parent (if not two), is not to start out on even footing with everyone else. And then she complains that she wasn’t given even more, as if she had earned it all from scratch. I don’t necessarily blame her for not understanding this (although I would have hoped that college would have helped on that score — maybe if she’d gotten into UT? — kidding), but the fact that the Supreme Court likely might not is just infuriating. As a middle-class white, college-educated woman myself, with white, college-educated parents, I don’t feel that the world owes me any more than I’ve already been given. And it doesn’t owe my daughter, either. The blind entitlement in this girl’s attitude is just breathtaking. I hope as she grows older, she can realize her good fortune instead of clamoring for even more.”
— Commenter LK, on the NY article about Abigail Fisher suing the University of Texas over affirmative action.
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Quote:
click to zoom
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“I had a baseball coach pose this question to me: “You have two guys run down to first. They have equal times, but one has much better form. Which one do you choose?”
You choose the one with the bad form. You can coach him to use good form and he’ll beat the other guy.
In the same way, blind adherence to SAT scores and GPAs is ridiculous. Take two kids, one white and one black. The white kid’s in private school, has educated parents, opportunities to travel, intensive SAT tutoring. He takes the SATs three times and submits his highest score—1280. The black kid is brought up by a single mom who didn’t graduate from high school. No books in the house, works after school, shares a room with two brothers. No SAT tutoring, takes it once, gets an 1120. You’d take the black kid, right?
Except, I forgot. The white kid’s dad was your roommate in college. You spray-painted the dean’s car together sophomore year. That was fun! Remember the look on Dean Whitehead’s face? Oh, and your brother does a lot of business with the family. Hard not to take the white kid.
Of course, most white kids don’t have these advantages. But almost no black kids do.”
—
Sen. Al Franken (DFL-MN), Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.
I’m not totally comfortable with the way this is written—I feel like it comes off as kind of judgmental of black families—but the main idea of this passage really struck me when I first read it at 16.
It’s not just that if a white student and student of color have the same qualifications you should admit the student of color to increase diversity. It’s that the student of color’s qualifications, earned without any of the advantages of white supremacy that white students have, are literally more impressive than the white student’s.
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Now this post looks like a DBQ question.
Edited to show that even if she were an ethnic minority she still wouldn't have made it.
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