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From:
"E. K. Daufin" <[log in to unmask]>
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E. K. Daufin
Date:
Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:22:04 -0500
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Please just delete if you are not interested.  Thanks - E-K. D.

 

From Diverse Online

Current News
Perspectives: Using White Privilege To Rank Black Colleges
By Walter Kimbrough
Oct 14, 2007, 19:36

Just over a month ago, days after U.S. News & World Report released the
"America's Best Colleges" rankings, editor Brian Kelly was in Little
Rock, Ark., to lecture at the Clinton School of Public Service at the
University of Arkansas. This date was on my calendar for months, as I
was excited about an opportunity to question Mr. Kelly publicly.

I had crunched the numbers, comparing top-tier versus bottom-tier
schools for national universities, national liberal arts schools,
Southern master's and Southern baccalaureate colleges and universities.
I used the South since that is where we find most HBCUs. I went armed to
ask Mr. Kelly why his methodology promotes discrimination against groups
which make up a significant portion of America.

When recognized, I asked:

The top half of the top-tier national schools have one-third the total
of low income students, one-fifth the total of Black students, and
one-tenth the total of non-traditional students of bottom tier schools.
Since Black, poor and non-traditional students generally have lower SAT
scores, are retained and graduate at lower levels than White, affluent
and traditional students, aren't you rewarding those, with few
exceptions, that enroll a minimum number of students from these groups
while penalizing those of us who serve these students?

He seemed to have never considered that fact. So he rambled for about
five minutes, rarely looking directly at me. A number of people chuckled
as they commented to me afterwards, "He didn't answer your question." He
weakly ended his "answer" by saying that the rankings don't try to drive
behavior, and that what I described were "societal issues" for which
they have no responsibility.

He did, however, articulate what U.S. News values: wealth and
exclusivity. When challenged by a Clinton School professor, he
confidently stated and our local newspaper reported, "Wealth matters in
American society. There's no question about it. Exclusivity matters -
inputs are important. Fame matters. Reputation is something that is a
proxy for other things." 

Kelly's position is an example of White privilege. This mindset purports
that institutions, organizations, and even people who are not of certain
backgrounds, attributes, influence and wealth, can be ignored and
dismissed.

Unless, of course, there is a way to profit from the have-nots.

Therefore, U.S. News now decides to apply this mindset to rank Black
colleges. The magazine took the exact same categories, using the exact
same point system, to now sell a magazine that purports to tell the
reader which Black colleges are the best. They asked Black college
administrators to provide the peer assessment, but only 38 percent
responded. So 25 percent of the score was determined by 93 somewhat
informed people.

White privilege allows Kelly to completely ignore the unique nature of
HBCUs, their mission, history and challenges, and simply impose his
money, power and respect methodology on them. I am willing to bet none
of the parties who developed this ranking system have any scholarly,
theoretical or practical understanding of the Black college experience.
Again, privilege doesn't require the magazine to take this into account.
It is inconsequential.

 

While in Little Rock, Kelly said "America's Best Colleges" separates
institutions by mission, so national universities are ranked together,
as are liberal arts, master's universities and baccalaureate colleges.
He said this allows them to compare "apples to apples." Black colleges
fall into all four categories, but all are ranked together. How can you
quantitatively compare my school with no graduate programs to Howard
that has a medical school and a law school?

 

That didn't matter. They just dumped all the Black schools together.
They're all the same.

 

Black colleges are competitive, maybe even more so than other
institutions. We brag about our teams, our bands, even our queens. We
all want to be the best, even if in our own minds. And while a ranking
might be fine, Brian Kelly and U.S. News have no business applying their
privileged notions of quality on institutions for which they have no
knowledge on or appreciation for.

 

The Black college experience is more complex than what their current
metrics evaluate. They can't measure the level of social consciousness
on our campuses, places that birthed the Civil Rights movement and its
leaders. Even recently, as thousands marched in Jena, La., the core of
the young people there were Black college students. U.S. News won't
measure this, which means Philander Smith College receives no credit for
20 percent of our entire student body marching in Jena, most likely
higher than any school in the nation.

 

With an ambitious student body grounded as advocates for social justice
attending a very progressive college, being validated by privilege is
not on our agenda.

 

Justice is. 

Dr. Walter Kimbrough is president of Philander Smith College.

There are currently 3 comments
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Click here <http://diversepodium.com/?p=375#respond>  to post a comment 



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