Why is graduating from an Ivy League school such a big deal? Are Ivy League schools that much better? These are the questions behind the recent Supreme Court decision to end Affirmative Action.

The debate about this issue reminds me of a time when I was attending a conference at George Mason University in Virginia. While there I met a Catholic priest who told me he had two masters and two doctorates. I was reminded of the information I had heard that where one goes to college matters more on the East Coast than on the West Coast and the more degrees one earns, the greater the status.

I have taught as an adjunct professor in several community colleges over three decades. I know that the education a student gets at a community college is not qualitatively inferior to major four-year institutions of higher learning. In fact, it may be superior since community college instructors are not as hindered by the “publish or perish” requirements found in major universities. Instructors have more time to spend with their students than those who are faculty at the “majors”.

One reason students want to attend Ivy League schools is the status it bestows on its graduates. Think of the awe that saying, “I graduated from Harvard/Yale/Princeton” bestows upon the speaker.

Consider how many Supreme Court justices are graduates of big-name universities: Eight of the nine current justices got their law degree from either Harvard or Yale (four from each). Justice Amy Coney Barrett got her law degree from Notre Dame. She also clerked for Antonin Scalia from 1998-1999, a factor which undoubtedly boosted her visibility as a Supreme Court nominee. So where one attended law school and who one knows, especially if one wants to hold any position of power in the federal government, matter a great deal.

The second reason attending an Ivy League school is valuable is because of the people one meets and associates with. Those contacts are extremely valuable in the future for gaining high status and high-paying jobs. As the aphorism goes, “it’s not what you know that matters, it’s who you know.” Of course, if one’s family is already one of the elites, who one knows is of lesser importance.

Affirmative Action for the Ivy Leagues was based upon the desire to help minorities get into the ranks of the elite class. One can get a good job without attending an elite college or law school. Realistically, the Ivy League schools filled many of their affirmative action quotas by allowing in upper and upper middle-class minorities — except Asians.

University Affirmative Action ended because its focus was on Black and Hispanic people who were “200 SAT points behind the ability curve. It wasn’t fair to Asian-American students or whites who had higher test scores.” “Harvard University consistently rated Asian-American applicants lower on personality traits like likability and courage.” (“Affirmative Action: The new ‘Colorblind’ Standard”, The Week: July 21, 2023). That practice smells badly of value-and-racially-laden prejudice.

The Supreme Court was right to end Affirmative Action for institutions of higher education, but the bigger issue that has risen to the surface is that the practice of admissions preference for the children of alumni and wealthy donors remains common practice.

“At Harvard, 43 percent of admitted white students received some kind of preference, either for legacy status, athletic ability, or being the child of a faculty or staff member” (The Week). The issue here is on encouraging future donors, not on academic excellence.

For most of us common people, no matter our race or ethnic background, the issue of Affirmative Action’s constitutionality in universities is irrelevant. Only a few can get into the Ivy Leagues anyway. Getting into positions of real power is reserved largely for the elites and their family members.

Many of the laws that Congress passes are not for the common people. They’re made for the elite who really don’t understand what it’s like not to be part of their class. It’s like watching the Super Bowl when your team is not on the field. Interesting to watch, but of no real significance.