By the turn of the twentieth century, academic nativism had
taken root in elite American colleges--specifically, Harvard, Yale,
and Princeton. White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant hegemony was
endangered by new kinds of student, many of them Catholic and
Jewish immigrants. The newcomers threatened to displace native-born
Americans by raising academic standards and winning a
disproportionate share of the scholarships.
The Half-Opened Door analyzes the role of these institutions,
casting light on their place in class structure and values in the
United States. It details the origins, history, and demise of
discriminatory admissions processes and depicts how the entrenched
position of the upper class was successfully challenged. The
educational, and hence economic, mobility of Catholics and Jews has
shown other groups--for example, African Americans, Asian
Americans, and Spanish-speaking Americans--not only the
difficulties that these earlier aspirants had in overcoming class
and ethnic barriers, but the fact that it can be done.
One of the ironies of the history of higher education in the
United States is the use of quotas by admissions committees.
Restrictive measures were imposed on Jews because they were so
successful, whereas benign quotas are currently used to encourage
underrepresented minorities to enter colleges and professional
schools. The competing claims of both the older and the newer
minorities continue to be the subject of controversy, editorial
comments, and court cases--and will be for years to come.
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