Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
52
A year later, colleges find affirmative action still isn't easy
One year ago this week, supporters of affirmative action cheered as the U.S. Supreme Court upheld factoring race into college admissions.
The decisions in two cases involving the University of Michigan, they said, would ensure racial diversity for many elective colleges in the United States.
But in the months since, some of the sheen has come off their victory. The win came after a decade in which legal uncertainty and public pressure had caused colleges to shy away from the most overt forms of affirmative actio
, and supporters think some colleges are still gun-shy.
"I've been struck by the irony that, in the year since Michigan ... some institutions have retreated from affirmative action even t
hough we won the case," said Ted Shaw, president of the NAA
CP Legal Defense Fund.
Few doubt the general commitment to racial diversity of most colleges. Universities believe their prestige and competitiveness would suffer if they had all-white student bodies.
So how to explain colleges' lingering caution? Experts point to several reasons, such as legal uncertainty, cost and expectations that affirmative action might one day be abolished.
Affirmative action remains legally risky. Looking at admissions to Michigan's undergraduate program and its law school, the court permitted colleges to give a boost to minority applicants, but only as part of a "holistic review" of every application. The court disallowed the use
of time- and money-saving formulas that automatically credit race.
Opponents of affirmative action are watching admission practices closely, requesting records and
loo
king for any signs of schools falling back on those formulas. They have threatened to sue if they find any.
In the past year, the threat of such suits has persuaded a number of schools to cancel or open up summer, orientation and scholarship programs that had explicitly targeted minorities.
While the court allowed affirmative action, it did not make it easy or cheap. Passing the legal muster of holistic review requires long applications and lots of admissions staffers to read them.
It was a lesson learned this year at a few large schools that had previously relied on formulas, including Ohio State University and the University of Massachusetts. Those schools vowed to continue affirmative action, but had to hire extra staff.
<span style='color:red'>Many colleges have ple
dged to spend whatever it takes to comply with the rulings. Still, there is concern that increasingly popular colleges could decide affirmative action is not worth the risk and expense.</span
>
**********************
The truth is, everybody expected the Supreme Court to kill Affirmative Action once and for all. Anyone who
can read English can read the 14th Amendment for themselves and see that it is blatantly unconstitutional. That is why many colleges are doing away with it. These colleges and universities know the American people are not going to tolerate this kind of flagrant abuse of our most sacred document for very much longer.
Reference:
U.S. Supreme Court rules on University of Michigan cases
T.N.B.
A year later, colleges find affirmative action still isn't easy
One year ago this week, supporters of affirmative action cheered as the U.S. Supreme Court upheld factoring race into college admissions.
The decisions in two cases involving the University of Michigan, they said, would ensure racial diversity for many elective colleges in the United States.
But in the months since, some of the sheen has come off their victory. The win came after a decade in which legal uncertainty and public pressure had caused colleges to shy away from the most overt forms of affirmative actio
, and supporters think some colleges are still gun-shy.
"I've been struck by the irony that, in the year since Michigan ... some institutions have retreated from affirmative action even t
hough we won the case," said Ted Shaw, president of the NAA
CP Legal Defense Fund.
Few doubt the general commitment to racial diversity of most colleges. Universities believe their prestige and competitiveness would suffer if they had all-white student bodies.
So how to explain colleges' lingering caution? Experts point to several reasons, such as legal uncertainty, cost and expectations that affirmative action might one day be abolished.
Affirmative action remains legally risky. Looking at admissions to Michigan's undergraduate program and its law school, the court permitted colleges to give a boost to minority applicants, but only as part of a "holistic review" of every application. The court disallowed the use
of time- and money-saving formulas that automatically credit race.
Opponents of affirmative action are watching admission practices closely, requesting records and
loo
king for any signs of schools falling back on those formulas. They have threatened to sue if they find any.
In the past year, the threat of such suits has persuaded a number of schools to cancel or open up summer, orientation and scholarship programs that had explicitly targeted minorities.
While the court allowed affirmative action, it did not make it easy or cheap. Passing the legal muster of holistic review requires long applications and lots of admissions staffers to read them.
It was a lesson learned this year at a few large schools that had previously relied on formulas, including Ohio State University and the University of Massachusetts. Those schools vowed to continue affirmative action, but had to hire extra staff.
<span style='color:red'>Many colleges have ple
dged to spend whatever it takes to comply with the rulings. Still, there is concern that increasingly popular colleges could decide affirmative action is not worth the risk and expense.</span
>
**********************
The truth is, everybody expected the Supreme Court to kill Affirmative Action once and for all. Anyone who
can read English can read the 14th Amendment for themselves and see that it is blatantly unconstitutional. That is why many colleges are doing away with it. These colleges and universities know the American people are not going to tolerate this kind of flagrant abuse of our most sacred document for very much longer.
Reference:
U.S. Supreme Court rules on University of Michigan cases
T.N.B.