Have we finally come to the emperor-has-no-clothes moment when it comes to quotas, or as they are euphemistically known, “affirmative action”?  There are grounds for hope, as the chancellor of Oxford University, on everyone’s list of the most prestigious universities in the world, speaks truth to P.C. power in an interview with the U.K. Telegraph.

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Javier Espinosa writes:

Universities cannot accept more ethnic minority students under a quota system without eroding  standards, the chancellor of Oxford University has warned, as the  Government readies reforms which force them to publish admissions data. (snip)

But as the pressure to accept students from a diverse background increases,  Lord Patten lay the blame on schools for failing to prepare students and  warned that any enforced quotas would result in a lowering of academic  standards.

Lord Patten said: “I am in favour of universities recognising their responsibilities for promoting social inclusion but I don’t think that if  you want high class universities you should expect them to lower their  standards in order to make up for some inadequacies in our secondary  education system."

Lord Patten, who was a Conservative Cabinet minister and former BBC  chairman, said his university is running several schemes to widen access  including scholarship schemes.

He said: “I don’t support quotas at universities. Nobody will explain  to me how you can make a system of quotas work while retaining the highest  admissions standards.

“Quotas must mean lower standards. There are better ways of addressing  social inclusion at universities."

As they say in Parliament: “Hear, hear.”

Equal opportunity really means judging everyone by the same standards.  And affirmative action means not tolerating poor preparatory schools, teacher tenure, and excuses for parents who don’t do their jobs raising children to achieve.

Hat tip: Business Insider, Clarice Feldman