Meritocracy is great in theory, but in real-life it's just the same perpetuation of rich/white/male advantages. I'm 2.5 out of 3 of those - it only works when t

Meritocracy is great in theory, but in real-life it's just the same perpetuation of rich/white/male advantages. I'm 2.5 out of 3 of those - it only works when the playing field is level to begin with, not when I start out 10 points ahead of someone who didn't have my advantages. You're not going to do an extracurricular project when you have to work weekends to support your family. You're not going to the university library to read research material when you don't have access to a car. Joining that after-school robotics team is impossible when you have to watch your little sister because both your parents are working and can't afford child care. Yes, you could work even harder to get around these obstacles, but there's no recognition of "level of effort" in meritocracy, the only thing that matters is results. What CMU is proposing won't fix everything (per nsnick above, "wealthy parents will always be able to game an adversarial process"), but it's a step in the right direction.