Under an agreement with the New York State Attorney’s office, St. John’s University and two smaller schools will no longer ask prospective students if they have “ever been arrested or convicted of a felony.”
The problem with the question is that it is racist and it might negatively impact the futures of criminals, The New York Times explains.
“An arrest or police stop that did not result in a conviction, or a criminal record that was sealed or expunged, should not — indeed must not — be a standard question on a college application,” New York Eric T. Schneiderman said in a statement obtained by the Times. “Such a question can serve only to discourage New Yorkers from seeking a higher education.”
Schneiderman brought the heavy hand of his office to bear on the issue after an advocacy group called the Center for Community Alternatives raised concerns.
The overarching goal of the Center for Community Alternatives is to reduce prison incarceration for people who commit crimes.
Now, St. John’s, a large Catholic school in Queens, as well as for-profit Five Towns College and private Dowling College will no longer seek to discover whether students have been mixed up with the law as part of any normal application processes.
The agreements reached between the state’s highest attorney and the schools stipulate that criminal histories can disqualify applicants only when there has been a conviction and school officials believe “the individual poses a threat to public safety or property” or the conviction relates directly to the student’s academic program.
It’s never any fun to get a letter from the attorney general, and the interim president of Five Towns College, Susan Barr, said Schneiderman’s missive to her school had come unexpectedly.
“We received a letter regarding a statement that was on the application that someone must have complained about — I really don’t know who — and we removed it,” Barr told the Times.
She noted that the attorney general never alleged that her institution had broken any laws. Schneiderman’s office simply introduced the issues as one involving “fairness.”
The attorney general also affirmed to the Paper of Record that it is no crime to ask people who are filling out college applications if they have been arrested or convicted of crimes.
“We haven’t disqualified anyone because of a minor infraction with the law,” Barr said. “Sometimes kids do things they regret. We want to give them a chance.”
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