UCT has an admissions policy that uses race as part of its selection process for specific programmes. Vice-Chancellor Dr Max Price has written widely on this topic and his articles have generated widespread responses in the form of debates on campus, on television and radio; and comments by the public through various media.
The UCT Council and Senate review and approve the policy for student admissions every year: most recently in November 2011 for the 2013 academic year. To supplement the process, the university Council recently established a commission into UCT student admissions, chaired by council member Judge Craig Howie. The commission's goal is to broaden engagement with the policy review by Council members and the public.
These web pages serve as a record of the ongoing debate since 2010.
January 2012
| Date | Article/letter | Author | Media |
| 29 Jan |
Fairness without racial preference - A reply to Dr Price When, in 2007, I initiated a debate about race-based affirmative action in South African universities, those responding to my critique of this practice unashamedly defended the use of race in admissions and appointments. |
Prof David Benatar - Head of Philosophy, UCT | Politicsweb |
| 26 Jan |
Explain this to students Vice-Chancellor Max Price offers "a wealth of scientific literature on how stereotype expectations affect performance" to support his racist argument that privileged black matrics from UCT's feeder schools are less capable of learning than whites. |
John Buchanan | Cape Argus |
| 23 Jan |
Admissions 'argument' about UCT lacks merit Reading through John Buchanan's letter on the matter of the admission policy at UCT for black students being "depressing" (Cape Points, January 19), I initially thought he was making a good point. |
Mike Longden-Thurgood, Milnerton | Cape Argus |
| 19 Jan |
Max Price response John Buchanan argues that black students work less hard because they believe they can get into the University of Cape Town with lower marks. |
Dr Max Price | Cape Argus |
| 19 Jan |
UCT's admissions policy demotivates black pupils Vice-Chancellor Dr Max Price's justification of UCT's race-based admission policy of privileged black students is depressing. |
John Buchanan, Somerset West | Cape Argus |
| 13 Jan |
Past sins revisited and corrected The assumption underlying the demand in South Africa that a university's selection of applicants from privileged schools should be blind to race is that there is no longer any educational disadvantage for black students in such schools. |
Dr Max Price | Mail & Guardian |
| 6 Jan |
In defence of race-based policy Universities' admissions policies have been making headlines again recently, especially regarding the use of race as an indicator of economic disadvantage. Online comments. |
Dr Max Price | Mail & Guardian |