Economic diversity requires support, not silence

9/30/15 5:05am

Last week, the New York Times published a ranking of top colleges based on their efforts to promote economic diversity, and Rice’s College Access Index ranking was only slightly above average (see this article). The ranking, which was based on the proportion of students who receive Pell Grants, the graduation rate of those Pell Grant recipients and the price of college for middle- and low-income students, placed universities on a scale from 0 to 2. In the rankings, a score of 1 was considered average in terms of economic diversity; Rice scored 1.16.

We are troubled by the Office of Admissions’ casual dismissal of these rankings as inaccurate on the grounds that Rice’s efforts towards economic diversity can’t be quantified. It was only two weeks ago when the university lauded Rice’s rankings in the U.S. News and World Report, another metric that doesn’t necessarily capture every aspect of the Rice experience. Admissions cannot pick and choose which rankings to uphold and which to disparage. We are quick to validate rankings when they suit us. Students are equally culpable of this.

The lack of concern reflects a broader issue of complacency with regards to addressing economic disparity at Rice. Whether these rankings present a holistic view or not, we should reflect on why our economic accessibility score is only slightly above average. Administration must examine whether we are consistently reaching out to students of lower economic backgrounds to learn how we can best support them. Admitting an economically diverse student body is not enough; we must provide additional academic and social support to ensure all students can begin their Rice career on a level playing field.

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Often, our community makes assumptions. Our peers, professors and administrators often assume a degree of economic luxury that is certainly not applicable to every Rice student. The price of textbooks, lab equipment, Saturday night dinners and various extracurricular opportunities such as Alternative Spring Break are all ubiquitous examples of college-related expenses that many take for granted, but that present a very real burden for others. Some of these issues are relatively easy to tackle; for instance, more professors accept older textbook editions or avoid one-time online access codes.

Rice lacks open discussion on economic diversity and accessibility, which go hand in hand with the social issues of race and gender. Although it is easy to say the college system presents an environment in which students are less inclined to divide among socio-economic lines, we may as well be divided if we lack awareness and sensitivity to each other’s backgrounds.

Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Thresher editorial staff. All other opinion pieces represent solely the opinion of the piece’s author.

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