A group of proud alumni are concerned about recent discussions centered around lowering the Manship School’s admission standards. We understand that such a move would be intended to boost minority enrollment – a commendable goal – and we seek clarification to ensure that lowering admission standards would not be counterproductive to that goal.
As we see first-hand in our careers, the acquisition and retention of minority colleagues isn’t accomplished passively. It requires action: investment, creativity and determination. Our group has a few questions about the plan to decrease the school’s admissions standards:

• What data-based evidence shows lowering admissions standards results in increased minority enrollment? Has the school studied the possibility that lowering admission standards might result in unintended consequences – perhaps instead leading to an influx of non-minority students with greater need for academic support, which might actually work to the detriment of well-qualified minority Manship students?
• In the past five years, how much more has the school invested in minority recruitment efforts, such as longer and more frequent recruiting visits to other cities and increased scholarship offers?
• If the school is considering lowering standards for admission, what investments are being made to boost faculty and staff support for an increase in students who will likely need more one-on-one instruction to prevent them from falling behind?
• What other ideas can be considered? For example, what if Manship eased admissions standards but monitored students’ school-specific GPA’s and required maintaining a minimum GPA to remain enrolled?
• What is the status of a search to find a permanent dean? Has the school considered that it might be more appropriate for a permanent dean to lead the charge on such a critical issue as the potential lowering of admission standards?

We are proud of the Manship School, and we hope our concerns produce a more measured, thoughtful discussion.
Andrea Gallo, The Advocate; Ginger Gibson, NBC News digital; Matthew Jacobs, Thrillist; Michael Mims, Bradley, Murchison, Kelly & Shea LLC; Mathew Sanders, The Pew Charitable Trusts; Kyle Whitfield, The Advocate