University of Michigan

University of Michigan and Affirmative Action

This sub-page is devoted to affirmative action news in Michigan. This page will be continually updated so as to register shifts on the issue of affirmative action in public and private opinion. Two governing questions for this sub-page of the Affirmative Action and Diversity Project are these: How are those most affected by the court proceedings in Michigan reacting to all of the juridical decisions, and to various elections? What will the implications be for Michigan and for the nation as a whole?

Also, viewers might want to cross-reference the News and Announcements page for an up-to-date chronology of Affirmative Action news items.
This page last revised August 2002.

News and Campaigns

March 28, 2003: There was little question about the huge interest in the legal challenge to the University of Michigan's race-conscious admissions policies. But the U.S. Supreme Court certified even before it hears oral arguments in the case Tuesday just how important the case is. On Thursday, the court announced it will release an audiotape of the two-hour hearing minutes after it concludes. See article Court to Quickly Provide UM Tape

See Affirmative Action Editorials: Race and National Security; Doped Affirmative Action: Follow the Generals; A Jeffersonian Take on Affirmative Action

March 27, 2003: Agnes Aleobua was just 16 at the time -- a student at Detroit's premier high school, Cass Tech -- but she knew her mind. She was clear that she didn't like to share beakers and aprons in science labs or use outdated textbooks or see roaches in the cafeteria. And she was clear -- after hearing a pitch on a gray February day in 1998 -- that she wanted to become a part of history. She wanted to help fight a lawsuit challenging the University of Michigan's race-conscious admissions policies. Aleobua begged her parents, Paul and Rose, to sign papers allowing her to join the case against the U-M Law School as an intervenor, a third party given legal status to present a take on a case. See The Intervenors

See Affirmative Action Editorials: Who Gets the Help?; Doped Affirmative Action Can Only Do So Much

March 25, 2003: See Affirmative Action Editorial: Don't Undo Good Done by Affirmative Action

March 21, 2003: The University of Michigan's legal bill for defending its affirmative-action admissions policies has topped $9 million and the meter is still running. Information from Our Advertisers Legal costs have picked up in recent months as preparations have intensified for the two cases that will be heard April 1 by the U.S. Supreme Court. UM Suit Cost Already $9 Million

March 19, 2003: Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox is a brash, white Republican who makes no apology for refusing Gov. Jennifer Granholm's request to support the University of Michigan's affirmative action case. "I know myself and I'm standing up for what I think is principled," Cox declares. Former President Gerald Ford is a conservative Republican who makes no apology for endorsing U-M's admissions policy, a stance at odds with the current Republican in the White House. See Affirmative Action at UM: Politics and Principles Collide

Affirmative Action Editorial: Comment: GM Backs Its Bottom Line; Good For GM, Bad for Racial Fairness; The True Affirmative Action

March 18, 2003: The young conservative threw on his coat and hustled into the frozen night. He wove through students with backpacks heading to dorms, libraries or the coffee shops that ring the University of Michigan's campus. Justin Wilson had no time to stop and talk. Minutes earlier, he had assigned the last stories for the next edition of the Michigan Review, a weekly student newspaper with a conservative bent. His cell phone rang. A liberal rival was calling. See Admissions Debate Fierce But Respectful

March 18, 2003: A point the Supreme Court might well consider in deciding the University of Michigan affirmative action cases has been raised by William Phung, a columnist for the New York University student newspaper, Washington Square News. Although they are left out of the racial preferences debate, he noted, "Asians make up fewer than four percent of the total American population so they are clearly a minority." But, Asian American students get no "plus factors" at the University of Michigan, whose policies are now before the Supreme Court, nor at other colleges practicing affirmative action. See A Secret Quota

March 12, 2003: For years, the College of William and Mary relied on a loosely crafted rating system to help wade through the annual flood of 8,000 or so freshman applications. A valedictorian with a glowing record of community service might have earned a "1," while a less stellar student with strong SATs drew a "3." At the bottom of the pile were the hapless "9s." The numbers were never used to determine who got into the competitive state school in Williamsburg, officials say, but were simply a helpful framework for discussing the multitude of worthy students. Yet by the late 1990s, William and Mary quietly stopped rating its applicants. New battles over affirmative action were brewing across the country, and the targets were public colleges whose formula-based approach to admissions gave a demonstrable edge to minority applicants. It didn't matter that William and Mary's system never used a student's race or ethnicity to calculate a score. No one wanted to risk becoming the next target. See article Reexamining Minority Admissions

March 12, 2003: Davin Fischer sensed he had been given a special break when Georgetown University admitted him two years ago. His high school record was strong but perhaps not as stellar as those of some of his future classmates, a fact that sat uneasily with him in the months before he came to campus. "I wondered, 'Do I belong there?' " recalled the 19-year-old sophomore from Milwaukee. See Legacy Students, A Counterpoint to Affirmative Action

March 12, 2003: In case you are confused by recent headlines, the U.S. Supreme Court will not "bar" any minority viewpoints or "silence" any student objectors when it hears oral arguments April 1 in the U-M case. The case involves three white applicants who were denied the right to enroll at the University of Michigan in 1997 while candidates they say were less qualified were admitted. Each side in the pending litigation has been given 30 minutes for an oral presentation to support its legal briefs. See article No One Was Silenced in Case

March 11, 2003: Minority students who intervened in two lawsuits challenging the University of Michigan's race-conscious admissions policies will not be allowed to present oral arguments to the U.S. Supreme Court on April 1, the court ruled Monday. Lawyers for the students said they were disappointed with the decision and angry with U-M lawyers who they said misled them into thinking they'd be allowed to use some of the university's time to present an oral case. See article Students Can't Address Supreme Court in UM Case

Affirmative Action Editorial: Affirmative Healing

March 7, 2003: Four in five Americans say it's important for colleges to have racially diverse student bodies, but only half think affirmative action still is needed to help blacks, Hispanics and other minorities, an Associated Press poll found. See Poll: Public Split on Affirmative Action

March 7, 2003: AMERICA'S high-tech industry recognizes that if it's going to achieve diversity in its workforce, there needs to be diversity on America's college campuses. That's why Microsoft, Intel and Lucent Technologies have weighed in on the side of the University of Michigan's affirmative action case that soon will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. See High-Tech Understands the Importance of Diversity

Affirmative Action Editorial: Affirmative Action? No, What I Want Is My Money

March 4, 2003: Affirmative Action Editorials: Maybe Race Had Nothing to Do With It; Diversity Does Not Require Condescension

March 1, 2003: Affirmative Action Editorials: Race Still Matters; Expect Split D ecision on Racial Tiebreakers; UM Case Students Have a Huge Stake in High Court's Decision; Americans Have a Cool Debate About a Hot-Button Topic

February 28, 2003: Two influential advocacy groups that oppose affirmative action have threatened at least 20 universities around the country with legal action unless they revamp enrichment programs or other initiatives aimed exclusively at black, Latino and Native American students. The two groups, which contend such programs violate civil rights standards, expanded their campaign into a national effort after scoring a pair of victories in recent weeks. See Race-Based Policies Challenged

February 26, 2003: Affirmative Action Editorial: In Affirmative Company

February 25, 2003: Affirmative Action Editorial: High Court Will Judge UM Success

February 24, 2003: Affirmative Action Editorial: Looking Back at an Ugly Time

February 23, 2003: Jennifer Gratz has heard it all. That she's a pawn of the right. That she's hijacked the language of the civil rights era. That her lawsuit against the University of Michigan's affirmative action policy cloaks a deeper agenda about race. "Totally crazy," says the 25-year-old, shaking her head. See A Dream Denied Leads Woman to Center of Suit

Affirmative Action Editorials: See College Suit as a Way to Show They Belonged; Doctors, Soldiers and Others Weigh in on Campus Diversity

February 21, 2003: When lawsuits challenging its admissions policies made the University of Michigan the next target in a snowballing offensive against affirmative action, its president, Lee Bollinger, recalled a warning of Judge Learned Hand that roughly went "The worst thing that can happen to you in America is to become a defendant in a trial." Dr. Bollinger, a former dean of the law school whose policies were under attack in one of two lawsuits, feared that unless he acted, other universities would isolate Michigan, emphasizing the differences between their admissions policies. See article U of Michigan Draws a New Type of Recruit

February 20, 2003: A dozen Democratic senators, including Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, submitted a legal brief to the Supreme Court yesterday supporting affirmative action in admissions at the University of Michigan, whose policies are being challenged in two cases before the court. The brief is one of the last of many filed in the cases. Harvard, MIT, large corporations, members of the House of Representatives, and retired military officials have signed briefs in support of Michigan's policies. See article 12 Democratic Senators Defend Affirmative Action in Michigan Cases

Affirmative Action Editorials: Affirmative Action; States' New Diversity Plans Fail Graduate Students; Diversity Defense

February 19, 2003: Twenty-two states, including Connecticut, filed a legal brief with the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday supporting the University of Michigan's race-conscious admissions policies. The court is scheduled to hear arguments in the spring in two cases seeking to overturn Michigan's affirmative action policies. The cases are being watched closely by colleges and universities as they attempt to build student bodies of various races and backgrounds. See articles State Backs University of Michigan; A Powerful Message on Diversity; Harvard Files Brief on Race; Friends of Affirmative Action; Duke Backs Michigan in Admissions Case; Affirmative Action Briefs Flood High Court

February 17, 2003: A month after the Bush administration filed a brief with the Supreme Court opposing affirmative action policies at the University of Michigan, more than 300 organizations representing academia, major corporations, labor unions and nearly 30 of the nation's top former military and civilian defense officials, announced that they would file briefs supporting the university by Tuesday's deadline. See article Groups Support University of Michigan Affirmative Action Case

February 17, 2003: Some of the nation's best known retired military officers and former top Pentagon (news - web sites) officials will file a Supreme Court brief supporting affirmative action admissions at the University of Michigan. Former Army undersecretary Joe Reeder, announcing the legal action, said Monday that service academies and ROTC programs need affirmative action to maintain a highly diversified officer corps. "It is absolutely essential to our fighting force," Reeder said. See article Ex-Officers Back Michigan Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action Editorials: Leonard Pitts Commentary; Diversity is Overhyped; Heavy Hitters Back Michigan in Race Case

February 16, 2003: Affirmative Action Editorials: Not Affirmative, Sir; Affirmative Action: Imperfect But is Still the Best Option

February 15, 2003: Harvard, MIT, and dozens of other top colleges and universities - along with Fortune 500 companies - are vigorously defending affirmative action in college admissions, and plan to file an avalanche of briefs with the Supreme Court by Tuesday in support of the University of Michigan. The court is set to deliberate in April on the constitutionality of affirmative action in college admissions, following lawsuits filed against the University of Michigan by white applicants who were denied admission. See Colleges Hoping to Sway Court with Briefs

February 14, 2003: Racial inequality in America's schools is a persistent problem. Ignoring this reality, President George W. Bush firmly contends the University of Michigan is wrong to give points to minority applicants based on their race because that process is too much like quotas. See Equality is the Issue in School Admissions

February 12, 2003: Civil and women's rights activists plan to march with religious and labor leaders to the federal courthouse in downtown Detroit March 1 to demonstrate local support for affirmative action. The Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit Branch NAACP, said Tuesday that the new Coalition to Defend Equal Opportunity is organizing the march. See Affirmative Action March

See Editorial: Merit Works

February 11, 2003: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will open two summer math and science programs intended for minority high school students and incoming freshmen to students of all races. M.I.T. officials said they did so out of fear that the programs, which are under federal investigation, would not withstand a court challenge. The freshman and high school programs have admitted only African-American, Hispanic and Native- American students since they were created in 1969 and 1973, Robert Redwine, dean of undergraduate education, said today. Each program enrolls 60 students for seven-week sessions. The new policy will affect classes this summer. See articles MIT to Open Two Programs ; MIT Drops a Policy for Minorities; MIT to End Programs' Racial Exclusiveness; MIT Drops Minority Policy

Affirmative Action Editorial: Success with Outreach, Not Racial Preferences; U Michigan Gets Broad Support on Using Race

February 10, 2003: Gov. Jennifer Granholm plans to file a brief before the Supreme Court this week supporting the University of Michigan's affirmative action admissions policies, in opposition to President Bush. See Gov. to Back U of M Affirmative Action

See Editorials on Affirmative Action: University's Admission Process Gets It Right; Bush Alternative to Affirmative Action Faulted; Affirmative Action, Texas Style, Stirs Criticism; Affirmative Action: Devil in the Details

February 7, 2003: An overwhelming majority of Michiganders -- 63 to 27 percent -- oppose the use of race in the University of Michigan's admissions policy, but 57 percent support affirmative action for low-income students, a poll released Thursday shows. See Most in State Oppose UM Policy, Poll Finds

February 7, 2003: It may be a situation in which the federal government is sending out rather mixed signals on affirmative action, or one of those left hand-right hand things that bedevil huge institutions. But shortly after the Bush administration filed Supreme Court briefs opposing affirmative action as used in admissions at the University of Michigan, officials from the nation's military academies told the New York Times they needed such programs to "maintain both integrated student bodies and officer corps." See Military Has Good Advice for President on Diversity

February 7, 2003: Among the most important cases pending before the Supreme Court are the consolidated challenges to the University of Michigan's undergraduate and law school admissions affirmative action programs, each of which takes the races of individual applicants into account. See article The Bush Administration and the Supreme Court's Michigan Affirmative Action Cases

February 6, 2003: By a 2 to 1 majority, Americans approve of President Bush's call to strike down a race-based admissions policy at the University of Michigan and say that students should be judged only on their academic records, according to a new Los Angeles Times poll. However, when given a possible alternative, the respondents say they would support an affirmative action policy that gives a preference to individuals who come from an economically disadvantaged background, regardless of their race, ethnicity or gender. See Bush's Opposition to Racial Preferences Gets Big Support

February 5, 2003: President George W. Bush asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to hear his arguments criticizing the University of Michigan's admission system as an illegal quota system. U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson, acting as Bush's agent, asked the court for 10 minutes during oral arguments on April 1 to expand Bush's arguments. The arguments, detailed in legal briefs filed with the court last month, claim that U-M's law school and undergraduate policies unfairly reward or penalize students based on race. See Bush Team Seeks Time in UM Case

See also Editorial: Ethnic Diversity without Race Preferences?

February 5, 2003: The University of Michigan's affirmative-action enrollment program, which will be challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court this spring, may not have a friend in the White House, but it enjoys broad support in some other powerful places: corporate America and military-service academies. President Bush last month criticized the university's policy of including race as one of several entrance criteria to create a diverse student population. See Businesses Want Diversity

February 2, 2003: Now that it has become fashionable once again to accuse vocal racial minorities of biting the hand that feeds them, who can fail to notice that the two most prominent opponents of affirmative action also happen to be its two leading beneficiaries? Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas didn't get into Yale because he was black. He got in because he was a good student who also was black. President Bush didn't get into Yale because he was a good student. He got in because he was a C student whose daddy had gone to Yale. See Dubya's Diverse Standards

January 31, 2003: In an attempt to quell discontent with the outcomes of the undergraduate Gratz v. Bollinger and law school Grutter v. Bollinger cases, President Bush filed an amicus curiae brief against the University of Michigan to overturn its existing race-conscious admission programs on Jan. 15. The faculty of the University of Michigan, the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALC) and the University of Michigan's Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA) were outraged by President Bush's stance on this issue. See UM Students Organize to Fight Amicus Brief

January 30, 2003: Affirmative Action Editorials: Affirmative Action for Blue Bloods; But Don't Call It Affirmative; A Tool to Explain Affirmative Action; It's Academic; Cover Story; No Place in Life or Law--an editorial by Ward Connerly

January 29, 2003: Some of the country's biggest corporations, concerned about their ability to recruit women and minority applicants, are supporting the University of Michigan in its court battle to preserve affirmative action in opposition to the Bush administration. See article Some Companies Back Michigan's Affirmative Action Policy

January 28, 2003: Even though I'm African-American, I won't lose even one night's sleep should the Supreme Court strike down the University of Michigan's use of affirmative action in its admission policies. Corporate America's great respect for profits should keep the doors of prestigious colleges open to students of color - one way or another. See article Diversity: Isn't It Everybody's Business?

January 28, 2003: Even as the Bush administration sides with opponents of affirmative action at the University of Michigan, officials of the nation's service academies say their own minority admissions programs are necessary to maintain both integrated student bodies and officer corps. See Service Academies Defend Use of Race in Their Admissions Policies

January 26, 2003: Editorial on Affirmative Action: Wolverine Diversity

January 27, 2003: Editorials on Affirmative Action: Discrimination Doesn't Pass Test ; The Futile Quest for College Fairness; Affirmative Action: Goal vs. Issue; President Bush Has the Right Words; Bush's Strategy of Racial Innuendo a Telling and Troubling Sign; It's About the Constitution--Stupid; Assistance, But Not Preference

January 25, 2003: Affirmative Action Editorial: Lift the Bar For Minority Students

January 24, 2003: John F. Kerry and Joseph I. Lieberman, New England senators running for president, scored political points over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend by criticizing President Bush for opposing affirmative action in student admissions at the University of Michigan. But in the 1990s each senator raised serious questions of his own about affirmative action, stands that have prompted concern from minority leaders and civil liberties activists about just how strongly the two presidential contenders support a policy widely embraced by blacks and Latinos, both large constituencies in the Democratic primaries. See article Past 'Quota' Views Shadow Two Democrats

January 22, 2003: From affirmative action to federal judges to tax policy, Democrats are painting President Bush as an opponent of minority causes, countering Republican efforts to attract black and Latino voters for the 2004 elections. A month after Mississippi Republican Trent Lott was forced to step down as Senate majority leader for making racially charged remarks, his party is working to mend its image among minority groups. But that effort coincides with the rollout of Bush's new agenda, which includes the nomination of conservatives to the federal judiciary and a tax cut most favorable to the wealthy that blacks and Latinos say threaten some of the gains they have made. See GOP, Democrats Present Dueling Messages on Race

January 21, 2003: Attorney General Eliot Spitzer of New York said yesterday that he would file a brief with the United States Supreme Court supporting the University of Michigan's policy of giving extra weight to an applicant's race in deciding who gets admitted to its undergraduate program and law school. See article Spitzer Says He Will Support Michigan's Admissions Policy

President Bush declined Tuesday to say whether racial preference could be used as a factor in college admissions, leaving it to the Supreme Court to settle a question that could overturn a 25-year-old affirmative action ruling. In sidestepping the issue, Mr. Bush said it is up to the high court to "define the outer limits of the Constitution" without his input. The Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it will hear oral arguments on the University of Michigan policies on April 1. See article Bush Won't Take a Stand on Racial Preferences

January 21, 2003: If the U.S. Supreme Court swooped in to gauge the opinions of metro Detroit teens about affirmative action, it would find conflicting ideas about the fairness and necessity of the practice. Discussion among area high school students Monday -- during events held to observe the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -- often centered on admissions policies at colleges and universities where an applicant's race is considered. Few of the nearly 30 high school students and adults who gathered to talk about affirmative action at West Bloomfield High School were outright against it. See article, Affirmative Action: Teens Have a Say

January 20, 2003: Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, the Bush administration's highest-ranking African American, said Sunday that he disagreed with the president's decision urging the Supreme Court to strike down affirmative action admissions policies at the University of Michigan. "I am a strong proponent of affirmative action," Powell said in a pair of TV interviews. "I believe race should be a factor [in college admissions]. I thought the University of Michigan had a strong case." Powell joined national security advisor Condoleezza Rice in publicly distancing himself from President Bush's stand on affirmative action. See articles, Race Should Be a Factor in University Entry, Powell Says and Powell Opposes Bush Line on Race

The two top African-Americans in the Bush administration took opposite sides yesterday in the debate over the University of Michigan's race-based admissions policy. President Bush called Michigan's admissions policy unconstitutional last week and threw his support behind a Supreme Court challenge brought by three white students. Secretary of State Powell, the nation's first black secretary of state, disagreed. See Powell and Rice Split

January 19, 2003: Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday he disagrees with President Bush's position on an affirmative action case before the Supreme Court, as the White House called for more money for historically black colleges. AP Photo Powell, one of two black members of Bush's Cabinet, said he supports methods the University of Michigan uses to bolster minority enrollments in its undergraduate and law school programs. The policies offer points to minority applicants and set goals for minority admissions. " See article Powell Backs U of M Affirmative Action

President Bush, in explaining why his administration would urge the Supreme Court to strike down the race-conscious admissions policies at the University of Michigan, said last week that there was a better way to achieve racial diversity in public higher education. He endorsed an approach that allows all students who graduate near the top of their high school classes to attend state universities, no matter how bad the school or how low their SAT scores. The administration's legal briefs, filed the next day, extol these so-called percentage plans, describing them as a tested and popular way to ensure minority representation in higher education without overtly taking race into account in admissions. See article Bush's Affirmative Action Plan Unlikely to End Debate

President Bush will propose funding increases for Hispanic-serving institutions and historically black colleges and universities in his 2004 budget, the White House said in a statement on Sunday, on the eve of the Martin Luther King Day holiday. Asked about the timing of the announcement and whether it was in response to criticism of the president's legal challenge to the University of Michigan's policy of using racial preferences in admissions, a White House spokesman declined direct comment. See article, Bush to Propose Funds for Black, Hispanic Education

U-M students square off and the faculty scrambles after Bush joins the case against the admissions policy. The outcome has broad implications. See article Michigan Campus Erupts in Debate over Affirmative Action

January 18, 2003: National security adviser Condoleezza Rice announced yesterday that she believes race can be used as a factor in college admissions, going beyond President Bush on a central question in his affirmative action policy. Rice issued a statement saying that she supports the president's decision to challenge race-conscious admissions as administered by the University of Michigan and that race-neutral means are preferable. But she said there are occasions when "it is appropriate to use race as one factor among others in achieving a diverse student body." See articles Rice: Race Can Be Factor in College Admissions and Bush Adviser Backs Use of Race in College Admissions

Bush administration lawyers massaged every word and phrase in their Supreme Court briefs on the University of Michigan affirmative action cases, slipping them in the court's door just before a midnight deadline Thursday. In writing the carefully calibrated documents and in describing them to the public, President Bush and his aides have had many audiences in mind: moderate suburban voters, Hispanics, Republican conservatives. Now, however, the briefs will be read by the people who have the final say: the justices. See article Briefs Appear Tailored to Justice in the Middle

January 17, 2003: Stepping into a case that could have widespread implications for affirmative action, the Bush administration is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that the University of Michigan's admissions policy is unconstitutional because it favors certain racial groups. Bush Outlines Case Against University Admissions

January 17, 2003: National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, the highest ranking African-American in the White House, said on Friday that race could play a role in college admission policies, putting her partly at odds with President Bush in a politically charged legal case. See Rice Partly at Odds with Bush on Race Case

January 16, 2003: President Bush yesterday delivered a sharp blow to the use of racial preferences in higher education, declaring that two affirmative action methods used to make it easier for minority students to enter one of the nation's leading public universities are "divisive, unfair and impossible to square with the Constitution." Bush offered his most explicit articulation of his views on affirmative action, a major social policy tool that he had largely skirted since his presidential campaign. Reiterating his oft-stated assertion that he supports "diversity of all kinds," he went on to say, "the method used by the University of Michigan to achieve this important goal is fundamentally flawed." See article Bush Joins Admissions Case Fight

January 15, 2003: Minority enrollment at the University of Texas flagship Austin campus is still lower than it was years ago, before a court barred the consideration of race in admissions.University officials, however, point to a slow increase in minority students as evidence that new admissions and recruitment policies are doing a good job of replacing affirmative action. See article Univeristy of Texas Minorities Drop

January 11, 2003: Bush administration lawyers are laying the groundwork to oppose a University of Michigan program that gives preference to minority students, a step that would inject President Bush into the biggest affirmative action case in a generation. Bush May Enter Affirmative Action Case

A week before a Supreme Court filing deadline, the Bush administration is torn over what position to take in an important dispute over affirmative action in higher education. See article White House Torn Over Affirmative Action Case

January 8, 2003: Affirmative action has been high on the right's hit list for more than four decades. In an attempt to destroy this modest attempt at racial integration, arch-conservative organizations have spent tens of millions of dollars and mobilized in a way unseen since the South re-emerged during the post-Reconstruction period. And the big-time payoff may be coming very soon. Odds Stacked Against U-M in Court

A group of national Hispanic leaders will ask President George W. Bush today to officially support the University of Michigan's admissions policies, which are being contested in two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. See article Bush's Approval Sought for U-M Admissions Policy See also editorial Affirmative Action Changes Lives

January 5, 2003: In 1995, when Jennifer Gratz applied to the University of Michigan's flagship Ann Arbor campus, she wanted to become a doctor. When she was rejected, she said she abandoned that ambition. "I thought that if the University of Michigan didn't think I was good enough, I wasn't," Ms. Gratz, now 25 and working at a computer company in San Diego, said in an interview last year. Affirmative Action Faces a New Wave of Anger

January 4, 2003: Letters to the Editor: A Look at College Diversity from All Angles

January 3, 2003: For well over a quarter of a century, law schools have been taking race into account in their admission of students in order to promote diversity. This winter, the U.S. Supreme Court will reconsider the 1978 decision that held that this practice was constitutional. Diversity Gives Depth to the Law

January 2, 2003: The Bush administration should not be at odds with itself over affirmative action. Yet, only weeks before the Jan. 16 deadline to decide whether and how the Justice Department should speak up in the case of the University of Michigan, it is mired in ambivalence. See U-M Admissions Editorial

November 4, 2002: The Supreme Court indicated Monday it wants to take its time in deciding whether to take a broad look at college affirmative action programs. The court, without comment, refused to put a case filed on behalf of black and Hispanic students on a fast track. Justices also are reviewing appeals from white students involving the University of Michigan's undergraduate and law school admissions policies. See article More Time Sought in Admissions Case

October 30, 2002: The University of Michigan asked the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear two cases regarding its affirmative-action admissions policies. U-M argued Tuesday that lower courts correctly decided that diversity is a compelling state interest. This permits the use of race as a factor in admissions, and U-M's undergraduate and law school admissions policies are constitutional, according to U-M's court filings. See article U-M Is Urging Justices to Not Hear Its Cases

October 30, 2002: The Supreme Court's long-awaited ruling on the legality of race-based university admissions may be just around the corner. In a bold move, the plaintiffs in the nation's most prominent challenge to affirmative action asked the Supreme Court this month to review their case, even though it has yet to be decided by the appeals court below. While such a request is rarely made or granted, this one may well be an exception. See opinion article Appeal to Affirmative Action

October 5, 2002: The freedom to burn a cross, the post-prison privacy rights of sex predators and copyright protection for lingerie will occupy the Supreme Court as the justices step from behind red velvet drapes and into their courtroom next week. Affirmative Action among the top issues. Supreme Court Faces Top Issues