More Minorities Flock to Fla. Colleges,
Despite Anti-Affirmative Action Policy More Minorities Flock to Fla. Colleges,
Despite Anti-Affirmative Action Policy
By STEPHANIE ERNST
DiversityInc.com
Aug. 31, 2000
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush suffered harsh criticism--and even a lawsuit--when he announced his plan last year to eliminate affirmative action from all state university admissions programs. Tuesday, he announced that an additional 1,234 minorities have enrolled as first-year students at Florida schools for the upcoming fall semester--a 12 percent increase from last year.
"We have shown that we can promote both opportunity and diversity in higher education without using unfair and legally suspect racial preferences. Students entering our system can be proud of what they've accomplished, and can be confident that achievement, not skin color or ethnic background, is the measure of merit in our universities," Bush said.
The One Florida Initiative ended the practice of providing preferential treatment to minority applicants at state schools, and instead, adopted a plan to guarantee admission to Florida's public-school students in the top 20 percent of their class. "Today's good news debunks the myth that One Florida would result in fewer minority students going to Florida colleges and universities," Bush said.
The initiative is being challenged in court by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Freshman enrollment grew almost 11 percent overall at Florida universities. Minorities constitute 37 percent of incoming students; 18 percent are African American, 14 percent are Hispanic and 5 percent are Asian. African-American students represent the largest increase, growing 21 percent at Florida State University and 33 percent at the University of Florida.
One Florida has not been fully implemented yet in five of the ten state universities.
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