Much has been said about the new University of Wisconsin holistic admissions policy. Is there even anything left to say? Well, yes. While these pages have been used to simultaneously praise and denounce the new policy, the arguments against it have only hinted at the policy's fundamental flaw: It's racist. Not overtly, not even toward those you might expect, but the holistic admissions policy is, at a very elemental level, racist. The problem is, obviously, with the inclusion of race in the criteria necessary for admission. While a more diverse campus and university system may indeed be a laudable goal, the way in which the Board of Regents has decided to go about it is all wrong. The lack of diversity in the UW System is not the result of the old admissions formula, but of a failed public school system in inner cities, not only in Milwaukee, but also in cities throughout the Midwest. If the school systems from which most minority students could potentially come are not successful in teaching their students, then it is easy to see why there are so few minority students in the state university system. By including race in the admissions policy, the regents have created a situation in which students who are ill-prepared to handle the rigorous curriculum of a university will be forced to play catch-up during their first year of college. The retention rate among minority students would drop like a rock because of the lack of skills that result from a substandard education. Some people may indeed say that this new policy would only spur reform and improvement among the inner-city schools of Milwaukee, but what is their incentive? By putting race on an equal footing with other admissions criteria, there undoubtedly will be more minority students in the UW System without a single change in local school districts. This being the case, high schools will have no incentive to better prepare their students for the rigors of higher education because those students are already there — and are no longer the schools' problem. This is the inherent racism of holistic admissions. Minority students may gain in their numbers at the universities across the state, but they will not have the skills they need to succeed. Such a disadvantage will only lead to a higher failure rate among minority students — not because they are less intelligent than their white peers, but because the system sought a quick and easy fix to a problem that may take years — and an entirely new approach — to fix. If the regents were serious about promoting diversity in the UW System, they would not have offered holistic admissions. They ducked the issue and took the easy way out. If they were serious, they would be working with Milwaukee Public Schools and other school districts with large minority populations to improve their schools and give those students the skills they need to succeed. I do not claim to know exactly the best way to accomplish this. I do know that more money is not the answer. Certainly more money does help in terms of having up-to-date equipment and facilities, but it is not a determinant in how well schools do. The budget for the Milwaukee Public School System has increased drastically since the early '90s while the overall enrollment has decreased, yet still the problems of dropouts and failing grades persist. Despite money being increased, there is no improvement. There must be a change in how students are taught in the classroom. Though adding race to the admissions policy was intended to help minority students, it will only put them at a disadvantage when beginning a college education. The focus cannot be on the ends, diversity in the UW System, but must be on the means, improving the quality of inner-city schools. Until we face the problems of our poor inner-city schools head-on, we run the risk of making the achievement gap between white and minority students worse. Promoting a more diverse campus through holistic admissions may make us feel better about race, but in truth it does nothing for those we insist we are trying to help. Mike Hahn ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in history and political science.