(Bloomberg) — Brown University President Christina Paxson defended the principles of affirmative action and preferential treatment to the children of alumni in admissions in the face of debate over two long-standing practices across American higher education.
“We haven’t found a good alternative” to affirmative action in ensuring a diverse student body, Paxson said in a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg News journalists on Wednesday. “The moves against taking race into account as one of many factors in admissions basically blocks out a really important piece of information about a person in the life that they’ve experienced.”
American universities’ consideration of race in admissions has been protected by decades-old Supreme Court precedents, but that could change later this year. The high court will address the issue in a case expected to be heard in the term that starts in October.
Paxson, who in July will celebrate her 10th anniversary leading her Providence, Rhode Island institution, argued against ranking applicants “by GPA or test scores and have a cut-off.”
“When we do admissions, we’re really thinking about constructing a class” that brings diversity of perspectives, experiences and backgrounds, she said. “All of this together is what universities need if our graduates are going to be able to grapple with the kind of challenges that we face and overcome some of the real polarization this country faces right now.”
Legacies are often misunderstood, she also said; they’re not necessarily displacing applicants from underprivileged backgrounds. Legacy is “one among many, many factors” in making admission decisions, she said.
And while the assumption is often that alumni parents are white and wealthy, legacy students are increasingly diverse racially and ethnically, and a “fair fraction” received financial aid because their parents were teachers or public servants not commanding high salaries, Paxson said.
“Certainly if the law changes, we comply with the law,” Paxson said as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to consider abolishing the use of race in college admissions decisions.
Brown is in the meantime examining how to build its recruiting networks and strengthen ties with community-based organizations, she said.
Paxson also said that, “I want students from rural areas and urban areas. I want students who grew up on army bases. I want students who are from tight-knit Christian communities,” in building diverse classes.
The Brown president, a former dean of Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and chair of Princeton’s economics department, said that life on campus is getting back toward normal amid the pandemic, with all students invited to attend in-person classes. But the effects of the pandemic are still visible.
“I would really love to lose the masks,” Paxson said. “It really makes a big difference” to be able to see when people smile and when they look confused, she said.
She said she’s spoken with Ashish Jha, dean of Brown’s School of Public Health, about the issue, and “he’s pretty optimistic that barring another variant, we’ll get to that point later in the spring, which would be fantastic.”
The following are among other topics Paxson discussed with Bloomberg:
Boston Fed
While Paxson, who chairs the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s board of directors, declined to discuss the search for a new Boston Fed president, she said her approach toward filling any position is “to work really hard at building a very, very strong and diverse pool of candidates.”
Crypto Investing
Paxson said that Brown started accepting donations in Bitcoin several years ago, and that those contributions are typically then sold. Brown’s endowment also has investments in cryptocurrency assets — “which makes sense given their performance.” Digital assets are going to be part of the “balanced” portfolio, she said.
China
Paxon said that while it’s vital for American universities to safeguard intellectual property, she argued against “overly restrictive” policies. “The message that we’ve been signaling out to the world is ‘Don’t come, especially if you’re from China,’ and I think that’s a huge, huge mistake.”
Attracting talented students and engaging in academic collaboration is important to maintain “our preeminence as the major research powerhouse of the world,” she said. “We don’t want to do anything that makes people afraid to collaborate with somebody on a great project.”
Inflation
She said it’s unclear where inflation will “level out” after its surge during the pandemic, or how much will become embedded in wages. Brown itself will release information on its pay and tuition in mid-February, she noted.
Fiscal Policy
While declining to comment on Fed policy and inflation, she expressed concern about government spending. “The fiscal response has been enormous — enormous,” and it may be compressing the fiscal scope for longer-term investments, she said.
Skipping College
Paxson also worried about fewer Americans attending college. “We used to be top in the world in terms of the fraction of people going to and graduating from college,” but now “we are falling behind.”
She urged expansion of Pell Grants, the federal subsidies for college students with high financial need. “We need to do something to kind of make the economic model work for the students,” she said.
Job Plans
Paxson said she has made “a very firm commitment” to remain as Brown president for “at least four more years.”
“I love this job. It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” she said.
(Updates with data on student body in second box.)
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