Quotas: Weapon or Remedy. Affirmative Action and Exclusionary Quotas

During the last forty or so years, "affirmative action" has meant the assurance of inclusion of minorities, most notably African-Americans, to colleges and universities and to prevent discrimination in employment. It is asserted that such affirmative action is necessary to ensure educational opportunities for those who might be otherwise under-qualified for admission or employment because of a pattern of cultural and educational discrimination in the past.

I do not wish to debate the reasons why an entire class of people would wish to be considered under-qualified or why, in any event, a group would rely on affirmative action rather than adopt the educational and class values of middle America. At another place and time, a debate might be helpful in which the arguments might be proffered, again, as Bill Cosby and others have suggested, that African-Americans would be better served by giving up the hip-hop, bling and profanity and return to the religious background once prevalent in that culture, disdain out-of-wedlock children, and to stress education and two-parent families.

Instead, I would spend the time discussing when a quota was designed to limit the number of individuals who were academically well-qualified to enter and attend colleges and professional schools and deny them this education solely because of their religion.

Numerus clausus, Latin for "closed number", is the practice of limiting the number of otherwise eligible students at a college or university, just the converse of affirmative action. The purpose and intent of the institutions following the quota system was to prevent admission by ethnic groups, primarily Jews, but also African-Americans, Asians and others, from attending medical, dental or law schools, even if the individuals so barred had better qualifications and credentials than others who were accepted.

It should be noted that numerus clausus is not always a vehicle for discrimination. Many countries have university systems that simply cannot accommodate all applicants because of space considerations. Thus, quota systems are imposed to encourage geographic or other diversity. Most commonly, moreover, institutions in modern Germany, Switzerland, Finland and other European countries rely on a series of qualifying examinations for admission. Thus the quota is imposed based on non-ethnic qualifications. This was not always the case, including in the United States.

During the first half of the twentieth century, especially, a number of private universities and medical schools introduced numerus clausus policies limiting admissions of students based on their religion or race to certain percentages within the college population. One of the groups affected by these policies was Jewish applicants whose admission to some New England and New York City area liberal arts universities fell significantly between the late 1910s and the mid-1930s. For example. Jewish admission to Harvard University and Columbia dropped about 50 per cent. Similar quotas were introduced in the medical and dental schools resulting during the 1930s in the decline of Jewish students from 40 - 50 % to 3 - 5 % at Cornell and Boston University medical schools. Moreover, if a Jewish student was admitted to Harvard Business School or Wharton, there were limited "openings" for such students in the business world.

In addition to Jewish applicants, Catholics, African-Americans, and women were also targeted by admission restrictions. African-Americans, in some instances, were outright excluded from admission at Columbia University. The most common method, employed by the vast majority of American universities and colleges at the time, to identify the "desirable" (native-born, white, Protestant) applicants were the application form questions about their religious preference, race, and nationality. Other more subtle methods included restrictions on scholarships, rejection of transfer students, and preferences for alumni sons and daughters.

Until the Brown v Board of Education decision of the Supreme Court, which outlawed separate educational systems for African-Americans, Black applicants for law school admission in Florida were excluded by law. An interesting article might be researched and written about Virgil Hawkins, a very well-qualified graduate of an out of state law school who was denied admission to the University of Florida law school. His ordeal included years of litigation followed by a settlement with the University to the effect that he would cease attempts at admission in return for the University's acceptance of qualified African-Americans from that point on. Mr. Hawkins, a true hero and pioneer deserves much more recognition and admiration. The lack of knowledge about this man among African-Americans is a true tragedy. (After his death, the University of Florida granted Mr. Hawkins a Doctor of Laws degree, posthumously.)

For the most part, quotas based on race or religion for the purpose of excluding otherwise well-qualified individuals were dropped by the middle of the twentieth century. Vestiges of the discriminations still linger, however.

It is extremely important to recognize that these insidious quotas were designed to exclude otherwise qualified applicants - not to provide an advantage to those not as qualified. The distinction is of vital importance and should not be overlooked. Those who argue for affirmative action should take note of this.