Michelle Obama: I wanted to share some of my thoughts on today's Supreme Court decision...

[wnylib]

28. When I met my second husband, back in the 1970s, he was a grad student

at a Catholic college that actively recruited minorities, most of whom were Black. Some of them came from disadvantaged backgrounds in NYC. They had leadership qualities and the potential for doing well in college, but the schools in the poor neighborhoods where they grew up were substandard. There were academic subjects and course material that they never were exposed to at their high schools.

So the college had a program of intensive tutoring over the summer, after the students had been accepted, to bring them up to par on subjects they needed for success in college. My then boyfriend (later husband) was a tutor for those students. During each semester, the college had a learning center for all students to get help in any subject that they needed help in. Then, on winter break and in the summer, students from disadvantaged backgrounds could again work on subject areas that they had missed in high school.

It was not a "handout" or "racial favoritism." Those kids worked hard over the summer while others were hanging out on beaches or focused on dating. The students had the intelligence and persistent goal orientation to succeed. They only lacked preparation, through no fault of their own. They did well in their college studies.

At the end of her address on the end of affirmative action for colleges, Michelle mentioned scholarship programs established for specific student groups, e.g. Native Americans and African Americans. She asked that people donate to those programs. That will help students who need financial help for college.

But there is a need for other programs, too, to help fill the gap between students whose parents can pay for tutors to prepare their kids for entrance exams and interviews, and those families who lack the funds for such additional tutoring. There is also still a need for programs to help promising students get the course material that was missing in their high schools.

So, I believe that everyone who believes in equal opportunities can donate time and money to establish tutoring programs staffed with volunteers to prepare minority students for entrance exams, interviews, and any subject material missing from their high schools.

When minorities have equal preparation and funding, they can compete with non minority students on an equal basis. Colleges will have no excuse for not accepting them.