Affirmative action policies generate a lot of heat. They are often questioned as to whether or not they really were helpful. Affirmative action laws were ended in Washington State, for the purpose of this article the admissions board at colleges was looked at. The basis of this was that less qualified minority students were being admitted to universities over more qualified white students because of affirmative action laws. The lower numbers of Black students being admitted to the Washington colleges are not totally due to the lack of Affirmative Action Laws however, there has been a significant drop in applicants of minority students. This is happening in other states where colleges or universities have ended, or amended, their policies on admittance based on race. It may be that students feel less welcomed. The environment is less welcoming because the AA Policies often include programs at the colleges directed at the minorities to make sure they are involved, and have extra help with navigation throughout their academic career. The argument is that AA Laws work to help the minorities at the expense of the majority. It is a fine line, and one of heavy debate in government.

            This article was well researched and neutral in its presentation of the facts. This is a touchy subject and I feel that the authors did a good job giving the information without heavy opinion. I would have liked to have seen some numbers offered however. Such as; by what percentage did enrollment of minorities decline? By what percentage did applications of minorities decline? I think this information would have been useful and made the facts presented more concrete.

            I will be using this article because I think it ties in well with my research question. The fact that so many academic institutions throughout the country are doing away with the Affirmative Action Laws speaks to a possible rearward shift in our society. One could argue that we are attempting to be forward thinking in taking race out of the equation all together. Another argument, however, would be that the minorities are already fewer in the professional word and without AA Laws to protect the current numbers they are going to deplete further. I think the information in this article will be very helpful to me.