Texas A&M students petition for affirmative action for athletic teams

Campus Reform ^

[oliverdarcy]

Texas A&M recently reaffirmed their commitment to affirmative action.

University President, Dr. Loftin, wrote a letter to the campus community explaining that "the university has developed an affirmative action program" dedicated to increasing the amount of minorities at the school and has established an "annual placement goal" at the university.

To highlight the absurdity of affirmative action policies, conservative students at Texas A&M circulated a satirical petition around campus.

The conservative students asked their liberal peers, who were in favor of race-based preferences, if they would also be in favor of applying such policies to the school's athletic teams.

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxCEKaKCXec

Continue Reading the Story Here . . .

[catbertz]

This made me laugh. It’s good to see young conservatives stretching their wings with humor.

[GeronL]

bump

[ought-six]

I love it! Exposing the hypocrisy and bigotry of affirmative action.

[exit82]

Would an AA program for the NBA be asking too much?

[The Cajun]

ROTFLMAO!

Go conservative Aggies!

[Terry Mross]

Welcome to the SEC, Tex A&M. You best get the conservative points in now. Before long your voice will be stiffled.

[magslinger]

Would an AA program for the NBA be asking too much?

Afirmative Action or Alchoholics Anonymous?

Both?

[rottndog]

Funny watching these people twist in the wind whilst they try to justify and defend discrimination in one form while at the same time trying to deny it in another. Also, note that the reaction of the first guy in the video was to run away and avoid his obvious hypocrisy....typical of AA supporters.

[exit82]

Either would be an improvement.

[Alberta's Child]

This set of clips raises an excellent point, but I'm not sure the comparison between academics and athletics really stands up well. Athletics, as my former philosophy professor pointed out years ago, is one of the few areas of life that truly exists as a meritocracy. The reason for this is simple: every athletic contest (the word "contest" even adds particular weight to it) or group of contests is supposed to be an attempt to determine a winner and a loser. Maybe it's one game, or maybe it's a season-long campaign. But in the end, the ultimate objective is to determine a winner or a champion of some kind.

There are really no other walks of life where this holds true, or certainly not to the extent that it does in sports. There is nothing wrong with a classroom full of students who all get an A+ on an exam, or for a semester (provided they truly earn it, of course). Conversely, there is nothing wrong with a group of students who all fail to make the grade in an academic setting. That's just the way life works in those fields. That's because there is no underlying presumption that "success" in an academic field must, by definition, come at the expense of someone else.

I agree 100% with the point the Texas A&M students are trying to make, but I don't think the argument really works well. I thought that similar episode where a bunch of conservative students held a bake sale -- with prices that varied by race and gender -- to be far more effective.

[TheDon]

The conservative students asked their liberal peers, who were in favor of race-based preferences, if they would also be in favor of applying such policies to the school's athletic teams.

How about asking the liberals to give up their position as students at the school for a minority student to take their place?

[Osage Orange]

They should have never left the Big 12......

Personally I will miss them.

[Alberta's Child]

Very good! That’s an even better way to approach it.

[magslinger]

That’s why I added “Both?”

[Osage Orange]

Ummmmm...let's say I went to take a test for a job that is vital to the security of the U.S.A. I scored a 100....but a black person, and a brown person both scored 95's, and no one scored higher.....and they gave the job to one of them...because of AA.

I was the winner...but became the loser because of AA. And despite my score...maybe security of the U.S.A. was lessened. Was security less...at the expense of me?

[Osage Orange]

Like if all liberals were white?????

[jiggyboy]

I’ll quibble: I think the basic argument here is that there are a limited number of spaces either in the classroom or on the athletic team, and either you want the best people there or you don’t.

Success on the team is clearer and more quickly determined than success after graduation, but the question of what is more valuable in the long run, and to whom, a state championship or a productive class of graduates, cannot be ignored.

[Tzimisce]

When we said “affirmative action”, we didn’t mean for you racist white crackers.

Now pay your taxes - your government is broke. :)

[Hot Tabasco]

Does affirmative action for football and basketball mean allowing students with GPA’s of 3.0 or higher in legitimate majors to play on the team?