Grand Challenge First-Year Seminar: Equitable Access and Success in Higher Education: A CMU Case Study

Course Number: 66-140

Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action have reignited the debate about equitable access to higher education. Affirmative action has been challenged many times over the past 50+ years, and these challenges highlight the complex nature of providing equitable access to higher education in a society that is not “equal” on many measures. Students from historically marginalized communities or from underserved educational systems are often at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing higher education. Even those who are admitted to college may not have the tools or resources to succeed. Throughout its history, and especially since the 1960s, Carnegie Mellon has undertaken multiple initiatives to provide equitable education to underserved populations. 

This course explores these initiatives, both past and present, as well as the broader debates about affirmative action. As a highly selective institution, CMU serves as an important case study for exploring the challenges and opportunities for achieving equitable access and success in higher education. 

This course will heavily focus on two programs from CMU’s history, namely SCOPP and CMAP/CMARC, and ask students to consider how these programs aimed to address the problem of inequitable education. We will draw heavily on primary sources from the CMU Archives and students will be asked to analyze these sources using historical and linguistic approaches. We are interested in exploring how the language used in discussions of affirmative action and student identities changes over time and in response to different historical factors. 

Students will collaboratively engage with primary source material to develop a final creative project that considers the history of various affirmative action initiatives at CMU and makes connections between these earlier efforts and today’s current programs. Class meetings will consist of group discussion and small activities as well as guest speakers. Outside of class, students will complete a variety of course assignments, including readings, written assignments, reflections, and a collaborative project.

Academic Year: 2024-2025
Semester(s): Spring