New Campaign Launched to Give Voters a Voice in Affirmative Action New Campaign Launched to Give Voters a Voice in Affirmative Action
Detroit Free Press
http://www.freep.com/news/education/qa13_20040113.htm
By Dawson Bell and Maryanne George, Free Press Staff Writers
Monday, January 12, 2004
A plaintiff in last year's landmark Supreme Court decision on using racial preferences in college admissions will lead a state petition drive to let voters decide whether to ban affirmative action in college admissions and state hiring.
Jennifer Gratz will lead the campaign fashioned after a similar effort in California. She was introduced at Monday's announcement in Farmington Hills, kicking off the drive to collect 319,000 petitions in six months,
Gratz sued the University of Michigan in 1997 after she was denied admission after compiling a 3.8 grade point average at Southgate Anderson High School. She said she less qualified minorities were admitted.
The Supreme Court upheld the use of race as a factor in admissions but said universities need to base admissions decisions more on each individuals application and qualifications.
Gratz is married and lives in southern California but has moved to Michigan to direct the campaign. She will be one of two paid people on the campaign, which calls itself the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.
Gratz spoke passionately at the press conference, saying the campaign was about fairness.
The ballot proposal faces a long, spirited battle.
Opponents, who protested outside the hotel Monday, said affirmative action programs are needed to insure opportunities for minorities and that without the programs the numbers of minority students will dwindle at state universities.
Copyright © 2004 Detroit Free Press Inc.
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