A look at higher education in Wisconsin
Affirmative Action and Asian Americans
Affirmative Action and Asian Americans
By Chris Kilcoyne
Lost amid today’s news coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court deliberation over health care is a second case of
arguably equal importance. This case, labeled “Fischer v. University of Texas, No 11-345” challenges previous legal
precedence allowing institutions of higher education in the United States to use racial factors when choosing to
accept or deny applicants. The outcome of the case, scheduled for October 2012, challenges the ruling of “Grutter v.
Bollinger,” a similar case levied against the University of Michigan’s admissions program in 2003. Both of these
cases were filed by Caucasian American applicants who were denied admission to a university program, and both
address the issue of race. However, with the Supreme Court now having changed, there is a possibility of affirmative
action being revoked.
Affirmative action policies in the United States have been commonplace for nearly 50 years. The policy was officially
adopted in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy in Executive Order 10925, which mandated that no federal
employees could be discriminated against due to race, creed or ethnicity. Further expansions were made upon this
policy by successive administrations. These included the famous Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed the
separation of education by race.
The issue of race as it pertains to higher education is important to the Asian American community. According to
2010 census data, Asian Americans make up approximately 4.8 percent of the country as a whole. Here in
Wisconsin, 2.3 percent of our population identifies as Asian American. The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s
student body in 2008 had just over 6 percent of its students identifying themselves as being of Asian descent.
Statistics such as these permeate throughout the landscape of higher education, where Asian American students
consistently outperform their peers and have higher acceptance rates than their presence in the overall population.
In contrast to the state of Wisconsin, however, the state of California has, since 1996, enacted statutes that
eliminate the practice of affirmative action pertaining to its institutions of higher learning. While California has a
more significant population of Asian American residents, comprising 13 percent of the total population, Asian
Americans make up 42 percent of UC Berkeley’s undergraduate population in 2012. Representation is similar in the
majority of the elite public universities throughout California.
At first glance, the repeal of affirmative action policy appears to be beneficial to the Asian American community of
Wisconsin. The community has produced a vast number of outstanding student representatives that are excelling in
the state’s higher education system. It only stands to reason that should racial acceptance policy be removed that
students identifying themselves as Asian may continue to exceed population numbers as a percent enrolled in
higher education. However, one must exercise a certain amount of caution when observing these statistics and
while making broad claims based only upon a glance at the data available.
First, it is important that we avoid the mistake of ethnic grouping. Most common statistics make no distinctions
between separate Asian American ethnicities. Thankfully, Wisconsin is slightly better in that students of Southeast
Asian descent are counted separately. The necessity of this separate distinction is in correlation with the relatively
high Hmong and other refugee populations in Wisconsin. While consisting over only a tenth of one percent of the
population of Wisconsin, nearly one percent of the population of the University of Wisconsin system schools identify
as being ethnically Southeast Asian.
No distinction on ethnicity
While being more specific than just “of Asian descent,” the statistics provided by the UW system lump different
groups of people within one group. This assumption, as many Asian Americans know intimately, is a major issue
today. Should Asian Americans be “counted” differently in regard to their actual background, and not be relegated to
one greater group as it pertains to college status? To answer this question, the Admissions departments of both
Edgewood College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison were contacted. Following a brief question and answer
session with both, it was determined that while the University of Wisconsin follows Affirmative Action, their
enrollment policy does not make a distinction between any Asian American ethnicity. When speaking to an
Edgewood College admissions official, it was made clear that no Affirmative Action policy is followed, due to their
status as a private institution. In both cases, the implication was made that while they record the racial background
of their students, they do not specifically do more than to ask the broad-based race terms such as “Asian Descent”
or “Southeast Asian Descent” in the case of UW Madison.
With this in mind, the question must be asked whether this system that pushes all Asian Americans into one group
is fair or right. While sharing a similar background upon arrival to America, or even just growing up here in
Wisconsin as an Asian American person, the question of whether being labeled of “of Asian Descent” really is
indicative of one’s cultural identity. When asked, eight of twelve students attending a combination of UW-Madison
and Edgewood College responded “Not really” with the other four accepting the label.
As individuals are wont to do, each of the questioned students expressed some explanation of how they felt.
Kimberly Joung, a senior at UW-Madison explained, “I mean, I’m Korean and American. I’m not really sure that just
declaring myself ‘Asian’ really deals with everything. […] It just seems like [Asian ethnic groups] just get grouped
together so that we’re easier to count or something. It’s a little disturbing.”
This opinion was shared by most of those who were asked. Interestingly, three girls of “Southeast Asian descent”
(to use the UW term), two of whom were Hmong, were among those that felt the identification merely as an Asian
American was enough. This represents a fundamental divide in the minds of young people today as far as their
identity that is understandable. Society in America has developed one (or two in rare cases) label for all Asian
Americans, and this is the line that is expected to be tread.
Returning, however, to the issue of Affirmative Action and how it could pertain to higher education, the idea that all
students of Asian ethnicity are being grouped as one is a dangerous precedent. While at face value the idea that
Asian students might be enrolled at a higher rate due to a potential dismantlement of the program is an attractive
one, all facets of the question must be considered by the community. It could be time to not throw down the federal
law, but change it such that more groups are recognized, although this could change things negatively. As was
expressed during each and every interview of college-aged individuals, the issue is too complicated for a snap
judgment. The decision in October is fundamentally important to the larger Asian American community, but raises
important questions that must be addressed regarding how institutions and government view the community: As
one group with only one set of needs, or multiple groups that share a common geographical heritage. The former is
the precedent set today.
Chris Kilcoyne is a student at Edgewood College. This article was submitted as a project for an Asian American
course under Prof. Jinxing Chen.
Lost amid today’s news coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court deliberation over health care is a second case of
arguably equal importance. This case, labeled “Fischer v. University of Texas, No 11-345” challenges previous legal
precedence allowing institutions of higher education in the United States to use racial factors when choosing to
accept or deny applicants. The outcome of the case, scheduled for October 2012, challenges the ruling of “Grutter v.
Bollinger,” a similar case levied against the University of Michigan’s admissions program in 2003. Both of these
cases were filed by Caucasian American applicants who were denied admission to a university program, and both
address the issue of race. However, with the Supreme Court now having changed, there is a possibility of affirmative
action being revoked.
Affirmative action policies in the United States have been commonplace for nearly 50 years. The policy was officially
adopted in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy in Executive Order 10925, which mandated that no federal
employees could be discriminated against due to race, creed or ethnicity. Further expansions were made upon this
policy by successive administrations. These included the famous Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed the
separation of education by race.
The issue of race as it pertains to higher education is important to the Asian American community. According to
2010 census data, Asian Americans make up approximately 4.8 percent of the country as a whole. Here in
Wisconsin, 2.3 percent of our population identifies as Asian American. The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s
student body in 2008 had just over 6 percent of its students identifying themselves as being of Asian descent.
Statistics such as these permeate throughout the landscape of higher education, where Asian American students
consistently outperform their peers and have higher acceptance rates than their presence in the overall population.
In contrast to the state of Wisconsin, however, the state of California has, since 1996, enacted statutes that
eliminate the practice of affirmative action pertaining to its institutions of higher learning. While California has a
more significant population of Asian American residents, comprising 13 percent of the total population, Asian
Americans make up 42 percent of UC Berkeley’s undergraduate population in 2012. Representation is similar in the
majority of the elite public universities throughout California.
At first glance, the repeal of affirmative action policy appears to be beneficial to the Asian American community of
Wisconsin. The community has produced a vast number of outstanding student representatives that are excelling in
the state’s higher education system. It only stands to reason that should racial acceptance policy be removed that
students identifying themselves as Asian may continue to exceed population numbers as a percent enrolled in
higher education. However, one must exercise a certain amount of caution when observing these statistics and
while making broad claims based only upon a glance at the data available.
First, it is important that we avoid the mistake of ethnic grouping. Most common statistics make no distinctions
between separate Asian American ethnicities. Thankfully, Wisconsin is slightly better in that students of Southeast
Asian descent are counted separately. The necessity of this separate distinction is in correlation with the relatively
high Hmong and other refugee populations in Wisconsin. While consisting over only a tenth of one percent of the
population of Wisconsin, nearly one percent of the population of the University of Wisconsin system schools identify
as being ethnically Southeast Asian.
No distinction on ethnicity
While being more specific than just “of Asian descent,” the statistics provided by the UW system lump different
groups of people within one group. This assumption, as many Asian Americans know intimately, is a major issue
today. Should Asian Americans be “counted” differently in regard to their actual background, and not be relegated to
one greater group as it pertains to college status? To answer this question, the Admissions departments of both
Edgewood College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison were contacted. Following a brief question and answer
session with both, it was determined that while the University of Wisconsin follows Affirmative Action, their
enrollment policy does not make a distinction between any Asian American ethnicity. When speaking to an
Edgewood College admissions official, it was made clear that no Affirmative Action policy is followed, due to their
status as a private institution. In both cases, the implication was made that while they record the racial background
of their students, they do not specifically do more than to ask the broad-based race terms such as “Asian Descent”
or “Southeast Asian Descent” in the case of UW Madison.
With this in mind, the question must be asked whether this system that pushes all Asian Americans into one group
is fair or right. While sharing a similar background upon arrival to America, or even just growing up here in
Wisconsin as an Asian American person, the question of whether being labeled of “of Asian Descent” really is
indicative of one’s cultural identity. When asked, eight of twelve students attending a combination of UW-Madison
and Edgewood College responded “Not really” with the other four accepting the label.
As individuals are wont to do, each of the questioned students expressed some explanation of how they felt.
Kimberly Joung, a senior at UW-Madison explained, “I mean, I’m Korean and American. I’m not really sure that just
declaring myself ‘Asian’ really deals with everything. […] It just seems like [Asian ethnic groups] just get grouped
together so that we’re easier to count or something. It’s a little disturbing.”
This opinion was shared by most of those who were asked. Interestingly, three girls of “Southeast Asian descent”
(to use the UW term), two of whom were Hmong, were among those that felt the identification merely as an Asian
American was enough. This represents a fundamental divide in the minds of young people today as far as their
identity that is understandable. Society in America has developed one (or two in rare cases) label for all Asian
Americans, and this is the line that is expected to be tread.
Returning, however, to the issue of Affirmative Action and how it could pertain to higher education, the idea that all
students of Asian ethnicity are being grouped as one is a dangerous precedent. While at face value the idea that
Asian students might be enrolled at a higher rate due to a potential dismantlement of the program is an attractive
one, all facets of the question must be considered by the community. It could be time to not throw down the federal
law, but change it such that more groups are recognized, although this could change things negatively. As was
expressed during each and every interview of college-aged individuals, the issue is too complicated for a snap
judgment. The decision in October is fundamentally important to the larger Asian American community, but raises
important questions that must be addressed regarding how institutions and government view the community: As
one group with only one set of needs, or multiple groups that share a common geographical heritage. The former is
the precedent set today.
Chris Kilcoyne is a student at Edgewood College. This article was submitted as a project for an Asian American
course under Prof. Jinxing Chen.