This page contains a chronological record of some of the major events surrounding the passage of California Proposition 209 and other Affirmative Action news. The news section is subdivided by year: 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006.
This page was last revised August 3, 2006. (AAD Home Page)
A Chronological Record of News and Events Related to Affirmative Action
News and Announcements: 2002
December 2, 2002: The decades-long wait for the Supreme Court to return to the heated topic of affirmative action in university admissions ended today when the justices announced that they would review two cases challenging the University of Michigan's consideration of race to ensure a diverse student body for its law school and undergraduate program. See Supreme Court to Revisit Colleges' Diversity Efforts
November 14, 2002: The president of the University of California system, Richard C. Atkinson, who sought changes in college admissions tests, announced today that he would retire on Oct. 1. Dr. Atkinson, 73, has been president of the university for seven years. See article University of California President Says He Will Resign Next Year and an editorial Atkinson Admired for Dipolmatic Skills, Consensus Building
November 14, 2002: A bombing spree and an alleged coup plot by white extremists have spurred many aggrieved Afrikaners to speak out about their alienation and discontent in post-apartheid South Africa. While the violence is condemned by all but the most extreme Afrikaners, many say it should send a message to the black-led government that it can no longer ignore their problems. . . They are feeling the impact of affirmative action policies designed to uplift the black community from apartheid's oppressive legacy. See article Afrikaners Feeling Marginalized, Disillusioned in New South Africa
November 12, 2002: It used to be that freshman orientation here at Dartmouth College revolved around hiking up mountains and sleeping in huts along the Appalachian Trail. But this year one of the highlights was a talk by Karim Marshall, a senior, who told the 1,100 new students about his arrival on campus from a predominantly black high school in Washington. "Everyone in my world was black," Mr. Marshall began. His grandmother from Mississippi could not even understand why he wanted to attend mostly white Dartmouth, he said. In the audience, Matthew Oppenheimer, a white student from Boise, Idaho, was riveted by Mr. Marshall's story, just as Dartmouth administrators had hoped. See article Colleges find Diversity Is Not Just Numbers
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
November 4, 2002: Jazmin Padron arrived in Texas three years ago, a bright-eyed Mexican teenager with little English and no thought of attending college. A top high school student, she's now all but assured admission to the University of Texas at Austin. Davin Hunt always assumed he'd go to college, and no wonder -- his parents and 20 of his cousins attended UT-Austin, and virtually all the students at his rich, almost uniformly white high school near Dallas go on to higher education, many of them to top colleges. But Hunt, whose grades don't quite make the top 10 percent of his class, may not be joining the family's Longhorn tradition. Beyond their Texas residency and sunny dispositions, Padron and Hunt have little in common. But both are busy adapting their calculations about the future to accommodate a five-year-old state law under which the top 10 percent of every high school's graduating seniors are automatically eligible for admission to public universities in Texas. See Texas' College Diversity Plan May Be New Model
October 30, 2002: Chang-Lin Tien, who as chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, was the first Asian-American to head a major U.S. university, has died. He was 67. Tien, an engineering professor who served seven years as chancellor, died Tuesday, Berkeley officials said. See article Former UC-Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien Dies
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 30, 2002: Today's workforce is more complex than decades past, incorporating far more women, as well as people from many backgrounds, religions and cultures. Businesses are increasingly cultivating employees' diverse knowledge and experience to reach new customers. See Businesses Use Diverse Workforces in Global Marketplace
October 28, 2002: If the Supreme Court this year agrees to consider the constitutionality of affirmative action in state university admissions, accepting cases from Michigan's college and law school, all eyes will be on Texas. Here the federal courts have already ruled: They threw out the law school's race-based admissions policy back in 1996. See Texas' 10 Percent Experiment
October 21, 2002: Colleges and universities have sent squads of lawyers into battle to defend their use of affirmative action to admit students. And on many campuses, the search to fill top faculty vacancies must include minorities and women. But schools are fumbling in bringing diversity to football coaching. Of the nation's 117 major-college teams, only four are led by black head coaches. See article Colleges Let Tradition Block Black Coaches from Football
October 13, 2002: In gender and racial makeup, Gov. Gray Davis' appointees who require Senate approval are not much different from those of Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican criticized by minorities for his opposition to affirmative action and illegal immigration, Senate records show. See article Davis' Picks
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 is among the top issues. Supreme Court Faces Top Issues
See also, As Justices Reconvene
October 4, 2002: Lee C. Bollinger used his inauguration as president of Columbia University yesterday to reassert the value of affirmative action in college admissions, to speak of Columbia's need to expand physically and to press for Columbia's greater engagement with the local community and the world. New President of Columbia Urges Affirmative Action
October 1, 2002: White students who sued the University of Michigan to block its affirmative action policies for undergraduate admissions plan to file a petition this morning asking the United States Supreme Court to review the case, even though the lower appellate court, which heard arguments last year, has not yet ruled on it. Justices Asked to Rule Early on University Admissions
September 27, 2002: White students who sued the University of Michigan to block its affirmative action policies for undergraduate admissions plan to file a petition this morning asking the United States Supreme Court to review the case, even though the lower appellate court, which heard arguments last year, has not yet ruled on it. After Big Court Case, She's Affirmative and Active
September 14, 2002: Medical schools should continue to consider race when admitting students despite recent US court decisions against "affirmative action" (positive discrimination), said Dr Jordan Cohen, president of the Association of American Medical Colleges, which represents all 125 medical schools in the United States. US Medical Schools Should Consider Race in Admitting Students
September 9, 2002: Editorial on Affirmative Action: Affirmative Action Turns Lives into Tragedies
September 7, 2002: Replacing affirmative action with broader recruitment efforts has made little change so far in the racial diversity of Florida's public university system, according to figures released Friday. Minority Enrollment Remains Steady at State Universities
August 30: 2002: The California Supreme Court has backed a father who argued that a Huntington Beach Union High School District policy limiting student transfers on the basis of race violates state law. High Court Scraps Racial Limits in School Transfers
August 24, 2002: The 2002 governor's race was supposed to be payback time for Florida Democrats. Since the end of the tumultuous 2000 presidential election, the party has cast its eyes on defeating Gov. Jeb Bush for his education program, his policy on affirmative action and the lingering bitterness over the state's role in sending President Bush, the governor's older brother, to the White House. Jeb Bush Rivals Face Uphill Battle
August 20, 2002: The proportion of black and Hispanic students admitted to the City University of New York's bachelor's degree programs has not been significantly affected by new admissions standards, though they continue to be admitted at lower rates than white and Asian students, according to data released yesterday by the university. New CUNY Policy Neutral for Minorities
August 15, 2002: Patrick Chavis, one of five black students whose admission to a medical school in California 30 years ago provoked a Supreme Court battle over affirmative action, died on July 23 in Hawthorne, Calif. He was 50. Mr. Chavis, whose medical license was revoked five years ago for malpractice, was fatally shot as he returned to his car after buying an ice cream cone in Hawthorne, a suburb of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.Patrick Chavis, 50, Affirmative Action Figure, Is Dead
August 12, 2002: Three years ago, when Samantha Comfort asked to enroll her daughter, Elizabeth, in kindergarten at Sisson Elementary School here, near her day care provider's home, she did not know that she was starting down a path to litigation that could determine the fate of hundreds of school diversity policies nationwide. All she knew was that in this racially mixed city north of Boston the school authorities had told her that Elizabeth, who is white, could not go to Sisson. School Desegregation Policy Is Challenged
August 9, 2002: Nearly a quarter-century after the Supreme Court ended racial quotas in university admissions, the court must decide whether to reopen the divisive question of what role, if any, race can play in a school's choice of students. Rejected White Law School Applicant Appeals
July 23, 2002: As Mary Sue Coleman takes over the University of Michigan, she's set to defend affirmative action and highlight the school's public mission. A New President With a Full Plate
July 2, 2002: The chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee has demanded court documents on the University of Michigan Law School admissions case for an investigation of possible judicial misconduct. U.S. House Judiciary Chair James Sensenbrenner Jr. said that the method used to select the nine judges who decided the case "may have improperly influenced the outcome." Ruling on UM is Criticized
May 23, 2002: A cloud hangs over the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals because of charges by one judge that the court's chief judge effectively stacked the deck to achieve last week's landmark decision in support of the affirmative action admissions policy used by the University of Michigan Law School. Court Divided
May 16, 2002: The US legal system is now a step closer to settling the question of whether university admissions policies that favor racial or ethnic minorities are constitutional. For the moment, however, the question is murkier than ever. Keeping College Doors Open; In Colleges, A Boost for Affirmative Action;UM Affirmative Action Case Expected to Reach High Court
May 15, 2002: In a closely watched case that could ultimately go to the U.S. Supreme Court, a sharply divided federal appeals court yesterday upheld the use of race in admissions at the University of Michigan law school. "We find that the law school has a compelling state interest in achieving a diverse student body," the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 5-4 decision, reversing a lower-court ruling. University of Michigan Law School's Racial Policy Upheld. See other articles on the UM Ruling: A Court Intrigue; Law School Can Consider Race in Admissions, Court Rules;Race Issue Triggers Policy Changes; Affirmative Action: Ruilng Lets UM's Law School Use Race Factor; Affirmative Decision; Students' Views Mixed; UM Law School Wins Race Case; In Defense of Discretion
May 14, 2002: The University of Michigan law school's race-conscious admissions policy is legal, an appeals court ruled 5-4 on Tuesday, turning an intense and lengthy campus controversy on its head. ``We find that the Law School has a compelling state interest in achieving a diverse student body,'' the U.S. Appeals Court for the 6th Circuit wrote in its opinion. Appeals Court Rules UM Law School Admission Policy is Legal
May 1, 2002: California voters -- by a nearly 3-to-2 ratio -- favor a proposed ballot measure that would largely prohibit state and local governments from classifying people by race or ethnicity, according to a new Field Poll. The proposal by University of California Regent Ward Connerly is considered an extension of Proposition 209, his successful anti-affirmative action measure, and could once again inject heated debate over race into a gubernatorial election. Race Privacy Measure Ahead in Field Poll; Ah, Color Blindness? Connerly's Deceptive Vision
April 20, 2002: Supporters of the so-called Racial Privacy Initiative have turned in what may be enough petitions to qualify for the November election ballot. If not, the measure almost certainly would qualify for the March 2004 primary. Irrelevance of Race
April 19, 2002: University of California Regent Ward Connerly plans to submit nearly a million voter signatures today for a ballot measure that would bar state and local governments, including schools, from collecting race-based information. Connerly, the conservative icon and author of the 1996 initiative that dismantled affirmative action, said his Racial Privacy Initiative would prevent the collection of information on race or ethnic heritage. Backers Say Race Data Ban Has Qualified
April 5, 2002: The University of California has admitted a greater proportion of underrepresented minority students for the fall 2002 freshman class than it did for the entering class in 1997, university administrators said yesterday. It was after 1997 that the ban on affirmative action in admissions was instituted, prompting a decline in such enrollments. UC Admitting More Minority Applicants
April 3, 2002: When America's best symphony orchestras evaluate potential musicians, the candidates audition "blind"; they play their instruments behind a screen so the auditioning committee does not know the musicians' race, sex or appearance but only hears the quality of their performance. . . . Auditions are thus an honest meritocracy, and better symphonies are the result. Now comes California's newest ballot proposition: the Racial Privacy Initiative. Colorblindness is Golden
February 25, 2002: The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas used to automatically reject applicants with lousy grades and low test scores. It's not that easy anymore. Because of a new state law, the admissions process is more complicated for the medical school and for all graduate schools in Texas. The measure, passed in June, says graduate programs may not use test scores as the sole or primary factor in admissions. Diversity Law Complicates Grad School Policies
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