Editorial: Admissions reversals reasonable when done responsibly

College presidents are influential members of the academic institutions over which they preside. But should they have the power to overturn admissions decisions?

The University of Texas recently brought this question to the front of college administrative debate. An investigation commissioned by the Board of Regents, released on Feb. 10, revealed that a “select handful” of University of Texas applicants are approved each year by the University’s president over the objections of the school’s admissions office, according to an AP report published in the New York Times. 

The University’s president, William C. Powers Jr., told investigators that his decisions concerning those he admitted were made with the best interests of the university in mind. The University of Texas is a state ­—rather than private — school, and therefore, must consistantly base admission on merit alone. 

We should note that, here at Pitt, admissions decisions are not interfered with by even the highest ranking administrative official. “That is not the practice at Pitt,” Ken Service, University of Pittsburgh vice chancellor for communications, said. 

We can easily see why one may object to a single individual, regardless of administrative position, overturning admissions office decisions. This view, however, is perhaps shallow. 

Students who deserve acceptance into their choice school do not always manifest as strong applicants on paper. A student who underperforms on the SAT but founds a club or student organization may have the leadership and interpersonal skills required for academic and social success in college. But, because applications usually cannot show this, this kind of student would benefit from a university allowing its president or chancellor to admit such an individual. Students who know or get to meet the University’s highest ranking administrator could showcase their skills in a way impossible toward the entire admissions team.  So, because it is challenging for admissions officials to properly gauge students’ qualitative accomplishments, especially at large institutions like Texas or Pitt, the discretion of a university’s president can be helpful in giving deserving, yet initially denied, students a chance to study at their school of choice.

However, college presidents cannot abuse their power in admitting previously denied students to their institutions. Outside investigations and reasonable documentation should be in place at universities that allow their presidents to overturn admissions office decisions.

Nevertheless, universities should have the right to give their president or chancellor the power to admit students whom their admissions office previously refused to accept, so long as the practice is overseen by other administrative officials or investigators.