Whites Discriminated Against In Admissions at OSU/Miami University

CENTRAL OHIO -- Is there admissions discrimination at The Ohio State University and Miami University? The Washington-based conservative think-tank called The Center for Equal Opportunity released a new study Monday that shows evidence of clear-cut discrimination against Whites and Asians in favor of Blacks and Latinos. The center said OSU is the largest university in the nation that still considers race when deciding who is admitted. "We just can't have a system where our public officials are sorting people according to their skin color," said Roger Clegg, of the Center for Equal Opportunity. But the center said that's exactly what is happening. The study focused on high school grades and class rank and college admission test scores and determined that minorities were being admitted even when their rankings and scores were far lower. "We found gaps in the average SAT scores of between 110 and 160, gaps in ACT scores that were even greater," Clegg said. Clegg said the study shows for mid-range students with identical scores and class rankings, Blacks had a 70-percent chance of being admitted at OSU while whites had a 33 percent chance. The study also concluded that those given preferential treatment were less likely to graduate. "It shows that this kind of discrimination really is not good for anybody," Clegg said. "Ohio State is, afterall, a land grant university and if the board of directors decides that it wants to give preferential treatment to minorities so that there is diversity and so that the university reflects the population of the state, what is wrong with that?" NBC4's Colleen Marshall asked Clegg. "Well, because it is racial discrimination and if you want to give special consideration to students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, fine. But you shouldn't assume that because somebody is black, they must be disadvantaged and because somebody is white they must be rich," Clegg said. "Playing field is not level. I understand that there are historical disadvantages, that racism still exists, but I don't think that in 2011 the way to fight discrimination is with more discrimination," Clegg said. A statement issued by the university said Monday: