Affirmative action opponent Vivek Ramaswamy has a solution to "drive excellence and diversity of talent among incoming college classes." He proposes that the "College Board should add a physical fitness section to the SAT, instead of just the math and reading sections. This could mirror the 'Presidential Fitness Test' — consisting of a 1-mile run, pull-ups, sit-ups, shuttle run, etc."
The SAT tests are a way to screen poor individuals out of college. Wealthy parents send their children to pricey SAT prep programs, while less fortunate kids have to take the test with no idea what it entails. Ramaswamy's proposal could make it harder for these students to attend university, as they are often too busy working or caring for family members to exercise.
From his tweet:
Now that the Supreme Court finally ended affirmative action, colleges will only further deprioritize SAT scores in favor of subjective factors because of large racial disparities in test results. There's a simple way forward that will drive excellence and diversity of talent among incoming college classes: the College Board should add a physical fitness section to the SAT, instead of just math and reading sections. This could mirror the "Presidential Fitness Test" – consisting of a 1-mile run, pull-ups, situps, shuttle run, etc. – regularly administered across American high schools until the Obama White House disband it. This is a pro-merit solution that rewards diverse talents: it's a fact that those who perform well on math & reading tests tend to perform more poorly on the 1-mile run, and vice versa. This would also help address a growing mental health crisis in our country: physical fitness correlates directly with lower rates of depression, anxiety, and drug use. This is not formally part of my Presidential platform but it's a serious proposal to address multiple cultural & health challenges with a single actionable step: most solutions shouldn't come top-down from government.
