MINNEAPOLIS — On the heels of the Supreme Court's decision to end the practice of affirmative action, the University of Minnesota updated its admissions policy to no longer consider race or "legacy status" as factors.
The University said instead, it will continue focusing on academics, like grades, class ranks, and standardized test scores as factors as a part of its "holistic" approach that it's used for 20 years.
However, just considering academia itself could leave out a lot of students from the candidate pool.
As the head girls basketball coach at North Community High School, Brianna Edwards sees young women outside of academia.
"Student-athletes are natural leaders; they're going to work hard," Edwards said. "How are you going to understand that they can problem solve? You can't convey that in an essay."
Edwards said she was disappointed to learn about the U's policy change.
The University does say it will consider factors like if the student is a first-generation college student, or evidence of having to overcome social, economic, or physical barriers to educational achievement. Officials said they will glean this information from prospective students through "open-ended questions."
"To know that they think that race isn't a part of your experience, it's very disheartening," Edwards said. "Because I know a lot of times kids that look like me don't have an opportunity to do summer internships, summer jobs. How do I convey me babysitting my younger siblings as experience?"
Plus, she added she sees some of the financial barriers they face daily.
"My first problem going to North was that I had a lot of athletes that decided not to come out to play sports because they needed to work to help their family pay bills," she said. "And that is the reality."
Money and time constraints, and sometimes concerns about home, make focusing on test prep, paying for tests, and taking it itself a hurdle.
"Their only mentality right now is to survive and get to the next step," Edwards reflected. "That's meaning the next day — not next week; not next year. It's [saying] 'OK, I have three meals today. Do I have three meals tomorrow?'
"I understand, that they don't want people of color to have an edge, but it's just equaling the playing field and we're still 20 steps behind," Edwards added.
The University of Minnesota said sharing race, ethnicity and family attendance information is optional, and it will only be considered for "recruitment and communication purposes about programs and services offered. The information will not be provided to application reviewers and will not be considered at any point during the University of Minnesota admissions decision process."
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