Why Affirmative Action Matters in College Admissions

David R. Harris, president of Union College (NY), writes: In the fall of 1987, my parents drove me from Ardmore, Pennsylvania, to Evanston for my freshman year at Northwestern University. At that time, people on campus would sometimes refer to Northwestern as the “Harvard of the Midwest.” I certainly understood the message. Northwestern was a highly selective, very expensive university that offered students a path to success and leadership. So why was I admitted?