Stacey Sinclair will describe a program of research that examines the ironic nature of efforts to support racial diversity in American universities. American universities are more apt to embrace racial diversity because it serves institutional goals, such as enhancement of group learning and corresponding cognitive skills (i.e., institutional rationales), rather than because it manifests institutional values, such as fairness (i.e., moral rationales). Our research suggests that instrumental rationales do not reflect the preferences of those they are purported to serve, low-status racial minorities. Rather, they comport with the preferences of White Americans, especially political conservatives. Further, embracing instrumental rationales in the absence of moral rationales is associated with negative outcomes for low-status racial minorities.