ABSTRACT

When the mainstreaming debate erupted around 1992, the most significant argument for preserving basic writing intact was that it offers an institutional haven for culturally diverse students. Such programs ensure diversity, writes Edward White: “I believe that we must preserve these programs if we are concerned about keeping the ‘new students’ in colleges and universities” (78). According to Karen Greenberg, basic writing programs ease underprepared students into the academy: “The instruction provided by basic writing courses enables students to acquire the academic literacy skills, motivation, and selfconfidence to persevere and to succeed in college” (“Response” 94; and see “Politics”). If we abandon the programs, Deborah Mutnick fears, we abandon a historical commitment: “If we simply eliminate basic writing courses… I fear the margin will simply shift, in many cases outside the academy altogether, as we return to a pre-open admissions, whiter, more middle-class university” (46; see Hull et al.).