DNBAM/Petition
from the Macalester Public Knowledge Base
This is the text of the petition which was signed by 400 members of the Macalester community during a 4 day October (?-?) petition drive, to defend Need-Blind Admisions at Macalester College.
I am signing this petition in response to the Resource Planning Committee’s recent recommendation to move to a partial elimination of need-blind admissions and admit 10% of students on a need-sensitive basis. Although I understand that this recommendation has not yet been formally adopted by the college, I wish to officially register my opposition to this proposition early in the decision-making process.
Although I recognize that this recommendation comes from efforts to address budgetary problems, I believe strongly that need-blind admissions should be considered one of our greatest assets and that even partial steps toward its gradual elimination should be completely discarded. The community as a whole should use this opportunity to begin a dialogue on what traits make Macalester a valuable institution and through what alternative means we can remain committed to our values over the long term. A more desirable alternative must exist.
I believe that need blind admissions is central to Macalester’s unique values as an educational institution. It represents a strong commitment to economic diversity and supporting the opportunities for low-income individuals’ access to higher education. In fact, our commitment is what sets us apart from most of our peer institutions, and is a primary reason – both economically and ideologically – that many of us chose to study here. Secondly, the argument that Macalester must move away from its need blind policy in order to remain competitive is troubling at best. We should seek to strengthen our reputation on the basis of our dedication to our principles, not arbitrary rankings such as U.S. News and World Report. I believe that any reduction of a need blind policy represents Macalester turning its back on a commitment to educating social change agents and leaders, and instead places emphasis on pop culture rating systems as a measure of a quality education.
