GUEST COLUMNIST: Brown's endless need-blind quest

I was struck by something a fellow student said about need-blind admissions. "Why don't we just find the Corporation and bang on their doors and demand need-blind admissions?" she asked, hoping, honestly believing that's all it would take to bring need-blind admissions to Brown. People seem to forget that for about a decade, students have been continually demanding need-blind admissions from the Corporation. And for a decade, the Corporation has been saying, "No, we don't have the money right now. We can't afford to do it. As soon as it's financially feasible to do so, we'll let you know." Asking for need-blind admissions has become like Sisyphus pushing his rock up the hill. Yes, it's true that it wouldn't take all that much money to go need-blind. If we just squeeze a little bit more juice from our billion-dollar orange we could probably do it. Last spring, the Corporation found $5 million to increase financial aid, but it only did so because every other Ivy League school increased its financial aid budget and if Brown didn't, we would be royally screwed. If the Corporation deemed it necessary to go need-blind, Brown would be need-blind in a second. But it's not like the Corporation is this nefarious cadre of pure evil that locks itself up in a secret army bunker under University Hall and sits around plotting how it can make Brown even more evil. The Corporation is a board of 54, 12 fellows and 42 trustees, all with close connection to Brown and most with a lot of money. Most are alumni who care about the University and want to do their best to make Brown the best it can be. Granted, they may be out of touch with what the students want but they have been around in this world for a long time and surely have some wisdom. They are a fiscally conservative bunch, only willing to draw about 4.7 percent on our billion-dollar endowment, but they do so because they want Brown to be financially stable. The more money Brown uses, the less the endowment grows, too, because that's less money to invest in the market. Meanwhile, above ground, there are a bunch of students demanding that Brown go need-blind, seeming at times like chickens with their heads cut off. Need-blind. Need-blind. Need-blind. It sounds good. It sounds like the moral thing to do. No discrimination based on class. The moral thing to do. That's what students have been telling the Corporation for almost a decade. The Corporation hasn't changed its position. Students haven't adjusted their argument. If you want to convince somebody to do something, you don't yell at them and tell them they have a moral obligation to do it. No, you convince them that this particular something will benefit them. Brown found the money to increase its financial aid by $5 million last spring because the Corporation decided Brown needed to increase the financial aid budget to be competitive. If students can convince the Corporation that Brown needs to be need-blind to be competitive, it will be successful. Personally, I think there are a lot of causes far greater and more important than need-blind admissions. I think the money could be spent far better in other areas, like teacher salaries or libraries or even improving existing financial aid packages. Need-blind admissions is one of those lovely symbolic issues. It affects really only a handful of students, who if they're really competent students and would have gotten into Brown, will get in somewhere else comparable and receive an education of about equal quality. But for those of us who believe really that going need-blind in admissions is the most important thing that this University should do right now, don't ignore your timeless friends, history and reason. And good luck. You're going to need it.