A Proud Graduate
As an alumnus of the Community College of the Air Force, I am very proud of the great milestone of 300,000 graduates (see “Establishing a Real-World Credential, June 28). I have visited several education centers during my career and found the staff knowledgeable, caring and dedicated to the mission of educating others. Col. Klincar is a very strong advocate for the program, and I know with the support of Air University and the entire Air Force community, we can look forward to reaching the 400,000 marker in the near future.
— C. Collins
Director of Advising and Career Services
Prince George’s Community College
Prince George’s County, Md.
Compensating for the Inadequacy of Public Schools
(“Will CUNY’s Math Standards Hurt Minority Admissions?” July 31, 2007; www.diverseeducation.com)
As the first director of open admissions at Baruch College and as the associate provost who administered remediation, not simply for new admits but also for upper-level students in need of academic assistance, I have previously gone on record as opposing both the increasing of admissions standards and the ending of remediation.
I believe that inadequate secondary school preparation, characteristic of most New York City public school graduates, should not deny New York citizens the right to a quality higher education. It should be the responsibility of the City University system to compensate for the inadequacy of the public schools, particularly for native born African-Americans whose enslaved ancestors built the U.S. economy without recompense.
CUNY is not Princeton or Harvard, nor should it be. CUNY is the public university that should serve the educational needs of the public. CUNY must not be allowed to eliminate all but those scoring high on admissions criteria. CUNY must not be allowed to abandon the poorest youths among us.
— Dr. Donald H. Smith
Professor and Associate Provost (Emeritus)
Baruch College, CUNY
Making ‘Equal Opportunity’ Work for Everyone
(“Perspectives: Abandoning Brown and ‘[Race]ing’ Backwards on K-12 Education”July 19, 2007; www.diverseeducation.com)
Justice Roberts had it right when he said, “the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Clarence Thomas took his view of desegregation even further, showing that he felt insulted that so many people believe that the only way a minority student can get a good education is by sitting near Caucasian students.
I concur. I believe that all schools should be held to the same standards of academic excellence and adequate funding no matter what the student body looks like or how much money the average child’s household brings in.
— Lloyd Hansen
Native Role Models for Native Students
(“Best & Brightest: Obligation To Native
Culture, Community Fuels Academic Drive,” July 19, 2007; www.diverseeducation.com)
This is a good story. Encouraging education (at all grade levels) for reservation American Indians from reservation American Indian role models is what we need more of. However, the poisoning of precious resources, such as water, requires educating impressionable minds of the people who will grow up one day and be faced with this decision. Upon my experience with public educators of non-Native Americans, our schools are woefully lacking in the following manner: No or little exposure to “how reservation American Indians see Mother Earth and what challenges they face.”
— David Coronel
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
