Before checking the box to identify her race on her college admissions application, Cecilia Vaughn hesitated for a moment, torn by conflicting emotions.

	Pam Panchak, Post-Gazette Cecilia Vaughn, a Duquesne University senior, identified her race on her application. Click photo for larger image.

It was an optional but important question that might increase her chances of being admitted if for no other reason than the fact she is black. Yet she believed her application was strong enough to stand on its own.

She decided to answer the question.

"I'm selling myself, and I want them to know as much about me as possible," said Ms. Vaughn, now a senior at Duquesne University. "I don't want anything to be a surprise."

As more colleges and universities make greater efforts to add diversity to largely white campuses, some admissions officers are considering an applicant's race along with grades and SAT scores.

Affirmative action in the college admissions process has for many years been an issue of national debate. Lawsuits have been filed because of it, and the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on it, saying that a student's race is one factor that can be used in deciding admissions, but that no quotas are allowed.

"We don't set targets for race, religion or gender. But it is part of our strategic plan to increase diversity on campus," said Paul-James Cukanna, executive director of admissions at Duquesne University.

He said 8 percent of the 1,326 freshmen admitted last fall were from minority groups.

"The vast majority of our minority applicants have test scores, high school records and teacher recommendations that show they have the academic ability to be successful at Duquesne," Mr. Cukanna said. "We're not concerned with the quality of minority applicants. We need more of them. That's why it's nice to know what the race of the applicant is."

Ms. Vaughn, 21, who attended high school in Cleveland, said she was turned off by a recruiter from one college who aggressively pursued her, saying that school wanted to boost minority enrollment.

"I felt it was almost desperate on their part, and I was not in the mood to be a trailblazer," Ms. Vaughn said. "It was just so weird. They were calling my house, talking to my mom, and I felt if they had to sell to me so hard, it wasn't worth my time to go down there."

The James Irvine Foundation, a California group that seeks to expand opportunities and diversity, recently completed a study of three California colleges that found that a sizable portion of students who chose not to indicate their race in the admissions process were white.

The study noted that the percentage of students in the "unknown" category nearly doubled between 1991 and 2001, from 3.2 percent to 5.9 percent, and on individual campuses the percentage can be much higher.

Roger Clegg, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity in Washington, D.C., which supports colorblind policies, said his organization believes that it is unfair, divisive and often illegal for colleges and universities to give preference on the basis of race in their admissions process.

"We have no objection to racial and ethnic diversity, of course. But we don't think it justifies something as divisive and unfair as discrimination," Mr. Clegg said.

He said his organization had filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education against North Carolina State University and the College of William & Mary.

"We found substantial evidence that race and ethnicity were being illegally weighted in admissions at those colleges," Mr. Clegg said.

The North Carolina State case is still under investigation, according to David Thomas, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education. The William & Mary case was closed because there wasn't enough detail for the Office of Civil Rights to act on it. Mr. Clegg's organization appealed, and the appeal is still under review.

Many colleges don't refuse any qualified applicants.

Thomas J. Kane, who teaches public policy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, conducted a study that showed that about 60 percent of America's institutions of higher learning admit nearly all who apply and therefore don't give preference to any particular race.

The most competitive colleges fight over the 300 or so African-Americans with the highest grades and SAT scores, he said.

In a major victory for the University of Michigan in June 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of universities to consider race in college admissions procedures to achieve a diverse student body.

The landmark decision was an endorsement of the importance of a diverse student body.

"Race and ethnicity is one of a myriad of factors the admissions committee would consider," said Betsy Porter, director of admissions and financial aid at the University of Pittsburgh. "A student would have to be academically admissible in order to be admitted."

But at a school such as Pitt, where there is no SAT cutoff and no minimum standard that applies to every student, it's harder to say who does or does not meet the qualifications.

Dr. Porter said that what matters in getting admitted to Pitt's main campus is class rank, academic grades, SAT scores, extracurricular activities and course work. The school is keenly interested in high school students taking more advanced and honors courses.

"There could be a situation where a student indicates [he or she is] a minority enrolled in a large, urban high school, [has] taken the right mix of courses including AP and honors courses, and [has] done well, but has a relatively low SAT score," she said.

"If [the student] indicated [he or she] worked part time to contribute to the family and has two or three letters of glowing recommendations from clergy or teachers, that would be a student the committee would determine could both benefit from and make a contribution to the college."

About 30 percent of the 4,000 students in this year's entering freshman class at Temple University were African-Americans, Latinos and Asians.

Recruiters there make a point of attending African-American events and high school fairs to reach talented minorities. They also send direct mail and conduct telephone campaigns.

"What we're known for is diversity in our student body, and we're proud of that," said Timm Rinehart, Temple's director of admissions.

Mr. Rinehart said Temple admitted 6 percent more African-Americans this school year than last year, 17 percent more Latinos and 11 percent more Asians, many of whom are immigrants.

"We do practice affirmative action in the applicant decision-making process, not in a narrow quantitative sense, but in a larger holistic perspective. We ask for ethnicity on the application, and as we make a decision, we consider it as one of the subjective factors."

Annie Cunningham, 18, of Braddock, decided to attend a historically black college, Hampton University.

After four years at Shady Side Academy and spending most of her grade-school years in private schools, Ms. Cunningham wanted to get a different point of view through her college experience.

"I'm not used to being in a school environment where everyone is black, where everyone has the same goals and motives," said Ms. Cunningham, a freshman. "I feel it is a positive experience for me because Hampton has a good reputation for being a top school."

She also checked the box on her admissions application concerning her race, although she didn't feel it was necessary because of her high grades and test scores.

In her case, she thinks it's more advantageous for the small number of white students who apply to Hampton to indicate their race.

A Hampton University official, however, said the institution had a race-blind admissions process.

If Hampton were more diverse, Ms. Cunningham said, "I wouldn't get the same thing out of it. It would be the same as going to Shady Side or any other private school."