WASHINGTON

A candid discussion on race-conscious college admissions policies and affirmative action ruffled feathers, as representatives from both sides of the issue met in Washington to debate whether colleges and universities could achieve significant diversity without using race or ethnicity as a factor in admissions decisions.

Hosted by Cox, Matthews and Associates, the publishers of Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine, the seminar, “Diversity Without Preferences: Is it Possible?” launched a two-hour discussion on the role historic, systemic discrimination, socioeconomic status, substandard primary education and other societal impediments play in the college preparedness of minority applicants. No consensus was reached. Opponents and proponents of using race in college admissions stood their ground.

Roger Clegg, a panelist and president and general counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity, a nonprofit social justice organization, was firm in his belief that race and ethnicity should not be used in college admissions decisions.

“We cannot do that in 2008 if we are admitting the most academically qualified students,” he said. “That is a problem, but it can be solved only if we get rid of the disparity in academic qualifications. Disparities, Clegg insisted, are caused by “illegitimacy and culture.”

“If you have an ethnic group that has 7 out of 10 children born out of wedlock, they are not going to have the same academic qualifications as an ethnic group that has a 1 out of 10 illegitimacy rate,” said Clegg, comparing African-Americans to Japanese Americans.

Clegg and his organization are aligned with a group of advocacy organizations that believe race and ethnicity should never be used in college admissions.

Offering a counter argument in support of affirmative action, Shirley Wilcher, a panelist and executive director of the American Association for Affirmative Action, said “preference” was a loaded term.