Given the demographic composition of the school and the history of racial injustice, retaining Williams has social merit. It also helps to create a more proportionally representative faculty, so the students are less apt to perceive the faculty in an 'us vs. them' manner and are thus more likely to continue with their education in an enthusiastic and empowered fashion.
Gutmann states that qualifications alone do not give someone the 'right' to a job, a statement that she sees as implied in anti-affirmative action lawsuits and legislation. The historical injustices committed in America's past must not be forgotten. We have never lived in a color-blind America, and pretending that we do now after centuries of discrimination is itself a form of discrimination (Gutmann 148).
IV: a) Describe fully the CSUN EOP program, describing the various programs they provide to entering freshman students. And, the criteria that CSUN EOP employs to select its program participants.
The Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) at California State University, Northridge is a program that is designed to make it easier for low-income student to attend college, and also to make students more apt to stay in school through mentorship and financial support programs. It recognizes the fact that students who are poor or first-generation college students may lack some of the support structures of other students. The EOP encompasses an array of programs that can help students in the transition to college from high school and throughout their years at the university.
Low income, according to the program is defined according to a set criterion. For example, the maximum total income for a family of two is $33,200. The income is based upon what the students report on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In addition to other financial aid accorded by the university, students are eligible for an EOP grant for up to $2,000 per year, although funding cuts have reduced the average award per student to $810. This aid package seems...
Every different college or division at CSUN has a specific advisory division devoted to EOP programs, so students can seek out aid that is specific to their academic program and their needs.
b) State the key elements of an affirmative action program per Amy Gutmann's definition.
The EOP program is class-based, rather than race-based. However, its specific focus on poor, first-generation college students targets students who are culturally as well as economically deprived. According to Amy Gutmann, traditional affirmative action preference programs do not empower the critically disenfranchised members of society who are too poor to truly take advantage of standard affirmative action programs. Very poor students often lack the opportunity to get even the basic qualifications to enter college. The EOP can help bridge this gap.
Gutmann believes that the past history of prejudice in America requires a racial component to affirmative action programs, which the EOP lacks, officially, although the website's students images are almost entirely non-white and underline the pro-diversity aspect of the program. "Race consciousness" in affirmative action programs is essential, not just class consciousness, according to Gutmann. The EOP in name is a class-conscious program although it has many elements that can empower students from historically- discriminated against racial groups (Gutmann 170).
Works Cited
Appiah, K. A & Amy Gutmann. Color Conscious: The Political Morality of Race. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1998.
EOP. CSUN. December 11, 2009. http://www.csun.edu/eop/
