U-M Regent Election Key to Race Policy; Board Will Make Pivotal Decisions on Minority Admissions
October 3, 2000
By Jodi S. Cohen / The Detroit News
ANN ARBOR -- A vote for the University of Michigan regents Nov. 7 may help decide whether U-M continues using affirmative action policies in admitting African Americans and other minorities. During the next two years, the U-M Board of Regents will make pivotal decisions about the school's admissions policies -- and about two lawsuits that challenge the college's consideration of race in admissions decisions. Republican candidates for the two seats up for election next month vow that if they oust the incumbents -- and gain a 5-3 majority on the university's governing board -- they will urge U-M to either settle the lawsuit or, more likely, not to appeal if the school loses the suit.
The Democratic candidates, both incumbents, want to continue using race as a factor in admissions decisions. "If we have a Republican majority, I suspect the lawsuit would be seriously looked at," said Republican Party activist Wendy Anderson of Commerce Township, a graduate of U-M Dearborn. "Continuing the policy of affirmative action doesn't help the university or the students applying there." Governing board members at U-M, Michigan State University and Wayne State University are elected to eight-year terms. Two seats are up for election every two years.
Usually, the party that carries the top of the ticket -- the presidency this year -- also wins the education board elections. That's not always the case, though: In 1998, when Republican Gov. John Engler carried the top of the ticket, two Democrats won the U-M regents seats, leading to a 5-3 Democratic majority on the board. The regents set university policy and, while they usually stay nonpartisan, the affirmative action debate could be one area where they exert their influence. ĘThey could order college officials to try to settle the affirmative action litigation and concede that the admissions policies illegally use race as a determining factor in admissions. They also could decide against an appeal, if U-M loses in U.S. District Court.
Though the divisive affirmative action debate is a key issue facing higher education, the presidential candidates and others have been surprisingly silent on the issue, including in the politically crucial state of Michigan. Michigan voters are divided. A narrow majority in a recent Detroit News poll favored eliminating affirmative action programs in college admissions.ĘCase closely watched. Educators are closely watching the U-M case -- the latest target of affirmative action opponents.
Three years ago, the conservative, Washington, D.C.-based Center for Individual Rights filed two lawsuits against U-M, alleging that the school illegally uses race as a determining factor in deciding what undergraduate and law school applicants will be admitted Court hearings on the issue are set for next month. The plaintiffs claim that white applicants are denied admission while less academically qualified minority students are admitted. U-M officials have vigorously defended their policy, saying they legally use race as one of many factors in admissions.
"Our affirmative action admissions policies are legally educational and morally correct," said Laurence Deitch, D-Bloomfield Hills, who is seeking re-election to the U-M board next month -- in part because of the lawsuit. Deitch said he fears a board controlled by Republicans might not want to appeal a ruling that goes against the university's more liberal position. "If I am elected, that is not going to happen," he said. "It is a very clear-cut issue in which the two Democrats have diametrically different positions as the two Republican candidates." U-M Regent Rebecca McGowen, D-Ann Arbor, who also is running for re-election, supports the U-M's dedication to diversity. "This university has been committed to making inclusiveness work for years and years. It is supported by members of the faculty, students, alumni, donors and the university community widely," McGowen said.
Policy questioned Susy Avery of Grand Rapids, the other Republican candidate for regent, believes the university was wrong in spending more than $4.1 million, to date, to defend its policy -- enough money to pay a full year's tuition for 675 students. "If I were on that board, I would seriously question this lawsuit and seriously question the cost of what the university is spending," Avery said. "It just doesn't seem to be an effective use of university money." Republican state Sen. John Schwarz of Battle Creek, chairman of the higher education appropriation subcommittee and a supporter of U-M's admissions policies, said the outcome of the regents election could have extraordinary influence on the issue.
Still, Schwarz said, about 25 percent to 30 percent of the voters who go to the polls won't vote for the races on the bottom of the ballot, including the governing boards of the three universities. "If this is the issue, I think it has heavy-duty partisan overtones. Any majority of the regents, any coalition you put together, can set policy on that given issue," said Schwarz, a U-M graduate. "By and large, I don't think a regent should think of himself or herself as a Republican or Democrat first." The other regents are anxious to see who joins them on the board. "A change in the board will affect whether the university would continue in the lawsuit," said Katherine White, D-Ann Arbor, who was elected in the last election two years ago that led to a 5-3 majority Democratic board. "It is something I'm concerned about. ... I want to keep pursuing the best students and diversity."
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