Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 13, 1995 TAG: 9510130072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HARRISONBURG LENGTH: Medium
A student petition calling for an end to affirmative action in James Madison University's admissions will be debated Tuesday by the student government.
JMU senior Scott Pinsker helped collect 200 signatures to allow introduction of the Bill of Opinion, which has no binding power on the university administration. But approval of the bill would represent a formal stance taken by the 70 senators in the Student Government Association.
Pinsker, who is not a senator, said he collected the signatures after thinking about his younger sister, who will be trying to get into college.
``I was thinking about the format that colleges have for admitting students. Grades are important. SATs are important. Extracurricular activities are important. Letters of recommendations are important. But somehow, it's gotten to the point where skin color is important and your genetic makeup is important,'' said Pinsker, who is white.
``Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought vigorously against the inequalities vested in our society during the 1960s,'' said student Sen. Thomas F. Galati, who is sponsoring the bill. ``Now some 30 years later, JMU is supporting admissions policies that are exactly what Dr. King believed to be wrong.''
Alan Cerveny, associate vice president for admissions and enrollment services at JMU, said the students don't understand the admissions process.
JMU policy states that the university does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, origin, religion, age, gender, veteran's status, political affiliation, sexual orientation or disability.
``One of the goals of the admissions committee is to make decisions that will help bring diversity to the campus,'' Cerveny said. ``I guess part of that is that we feel that a diverse student body helps to create a more dynamic and exciting environment for students to live and learn in. Students are not only learning from their professors but learning a lot from each other because of their different backgrounds and experiences.''
There is no number in mind each year when admissions decisions are being made, he said.
``Maybe one of the things we may need to be looking at is spending some time with some of our student senators to educate them on where our current policies are and give them more of an insight as to how an admissions committee goes about making admissions decisions,'' Cerveny said.
The admissions committee makes its decisions based on many different factors, including special talents, leadership abilities and community involvement, he said.
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.