…but that doesn’t mean colleges have to accept you.
Blatantly stealing an idea from the comments section at Slate, I hereby call on all universities to reject high school biology credits for students educated in states where creationism or intelligent design is taught. “If you need three years of sciences courses to get into college and you have them, but one of them was in biology in Kansas, you’re out of luck. It’s community college time for you, at least until you get that deficiency remediated.”
Seriously. In fact, I’m actually amazed the Ivy League hasn’t adopted this already. Of course, they do each have their own divinity schools and religious studies programs, so maybe not. Nevertheless, students are denied admission on the basis of inadequate learning all the time. Why not this? It’s not like they aren’t picky enough, acceptance rates are already as low as 10% at some Ivies.
If every student from, say, Kansas was going to be rejected from MIT or USC because they were taught poorly, the curriculum would change within a month. So let’s see the colleges make a stand against the anti-education forces. If you know anyone in power at any college, feel free to make a push.
UPDATE: Seems like Lindsay and I are on the same wavelength.
I don’t like the idea of tarring an entire state because there are a few yokels in it. We’re all actually Purple States, remember? Although if it’s known that a student went to a high school that indoctrinates in “creation science,” I don’t think it’s unreasonable to require an entrance exam featuring actual science questions to see if the student was able to move beyond the religious propaganda and actually learn something factual.
“I hereby call on all universities to reject high school biology credits for students educated in states where creationism or intelligent design is taught.”
Well, THAT will show them! I can picture the scene at Harvard now:
“President Summers, some guy with a web site has called on us to stop accepting students from states where intelligent design was taught!”
“Quick quick, notify the admissions office!”
“Are you sure, sir? What about — ”
“DAMN it, woman, when some guy with a website says jump WE ASK HOW HIGH!”
“But you didn’t ask how high, sir — ”
“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAARRRGH! I’ll do it myself!”
(SUMMERS strips down to tighty whities, paints “NO KANSAS” on his chest with his own faeces, and rappels out his office window to bring word to the admissions office.)
Annnnd…SCENE.
In a similar fashion, I’m hoping technology companies will decline to build headquarters, factories, research labs, etc. in states that teach Intelligent Design as if it were a science.
“I’m sorry, Governor So-And-So. I know you’ve offered us very generous tax incentives to build in your state, and I know you’re supportive of the economic growth our company can bring to your state. But we’re a science and technology company, after all. And we just don’t feel your public school science curriculum is conducive to creating an adequate staffing pool for what our needs are and will be…”
Ah, Modest Proposals are fun, no?
Well, we have already had instances of companies declining to build factories in states, despite incentives, because the work force was considered too illiterate. Canada got the business instead.
So, I see your proposal as not only likely, but already starting to happen…
No offense, but that’s probably the worst idea I’ve ever heard. What about every single religious private school in the country? I suppose all of their science credits are “unacceptable” as well?
Arthur: Sadly, I doubt Harvard would do it– they’ve got a divinity school. Which, oddly, is why I think MIT would do it.
Tommy and Patrick: Already pointed that out a while back over here.
Matt: My dad went to Catholic school fifty years ago and learned about evolution then, they didn’t have a problem with teaching science in the science classes and religion in the religious classes.
It seems the idea isn’t as farfetched as some would believe:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Creationism%20Lawsuit
Essentially, an organization which represents Christian schools is claiming the University of California system is violating the rights of students and religious groups because the system rejects a couple of courses being taught (at one specific “Christian” high school, at least).
While there was no official comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, one spokeswoman seems to hold the utterly radical idea that the university should be able to set course requirements.
I wholeheartedly support the notion that if “Christians” want their children to receive fundamentalist indoctrination, they should send the children to a fundamentalist college or university.