September 2001
June 20, 2001
Dear Dean Cairns:
We are a national organization
of scholars whose goals are to promote academic freedom in teaching, research,
and scholarship and to uphold the merit principle as the basis of academic
decision-making regarding students and faculty. For further information,
please visit our website at www.safs.niagara.com.
I am writing to you, because
it has come to our attention that your medical school is proposing to set
aside up to 5% of places in the entering class for aboriginal students.
Our understanding is that this proposal is part of a program to address
the health status of aboriginal people in British Columbia, as well as
diversity issues generally. Though the intent of your proposal may be well
intentioned, we believe that the establishment of quotas is unwise and
dangerous for the following reasons:
The creation of a quota system
is an admission that applying the normal academic admission procedures
to all applicants equally would not lead to as many aboriginal students
being admitted as you would like. Thus it follows that to meet your quota
you will be admitting less qualified aboriginal students while rejecting
more qualified non-aboriginal students. Our evaluation is supported by
a recent study of affirmative action in five US public medical schools
(see enclosed report in the Chronicle of Higher Education). The study found
that minority students were admitted with lower grades and MCAT scores,
and subsequently performed more poorly on US medical licensing examinations.
The study also reported that 3,500 non-minority students were rejected
although they had better qualifications than the minority students accepted.
Furthermore, your proposed
quota system is based on the following mistaken beliefs (some might say
demeaning stereotypes): (1) that aboriginal doctors will choose medical
specialities in which aboriginals would be the major beneficiaries, (2)
that non-aboriginal doctors are less likely than aboriginal doctors to
treat aboriginal patients, and (3) that aboriginal patients would not seek
or accept, or would be less willing to seek or accept, medical attention
from non-aboriginal doctors. Given that those admitted under the quota
system may be expected to perform more poorly after graduation, it also
implies that aboriginal patients should be satisfied with less than the
best qualified physicians.
There is no reason to admit
students into medical school on the basis of race. Indeed, there are very
strong reasons to ignore race as an admission criterion: fairness to all
applicants, competence of future doctors, and respect for aboriginal people
who deserve to be held to the same standards of performance as others and
who deserve the same high standards of competence in their physicians as
do other Canadians.
Our objection is not to your
desire to address health problems in the aboriginal community, but to your
use of a quota system. More imaginative potential solutions such as providing
incentives to physicians to work in areas where there are a shortage of
doctors, or developing programs to identify promising aboriginal students
earlier in their education should be considered. Preferential admission
policies are discriminatory, full stop. If we want to rid society of the
problems caused by discrimination, then the first step should be to stop
discriminating.
We would be grateful for
your reaction to our concerns. We will post our letter and your response
on our website.
Sincerely,
Clive Seligman, President
cc: Dr. Martha C. Piper,
President, UBC.
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