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: 2003
June 23, 2003: U.S. Supreme Court upholds Affirmative Action for universities. In Gratz v. Bollinger, the Court ruled 6-3 that the university's policy of allocating 20 points to every minority applicant out of a possible 150 points required to guarantee admission violated the 14th Amendment's 'equal protection' clause. But in Grutter v. Bollinger, the Court ruled 5-4 that the law school was justified in ensuring that a ''critical mass'' of minority students was admitted, even if that meant that white students with higher test scores or grades were denied admission. The two cases reaffirm the court's 1978 decision in Bakke v. Board of Regents. See the decisions: Gratz v. Bollinger; Grutter v. Bollinger
May 29, 2003: In what plaintiffs hailed as a symbolic moral victory, a federal judge ruled that two white Boston children were unfairly denied places in their neighborhood public schools under the city's old, race-based method of assigning students to schools. However, the decision released yesterday by US District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns has little practical effect because the two students no longer attend Boston public schools and the city no longer uses race in assigning children to schools. See article Ruling Targets Use of Race
May 28, 2003: See Affirmative Action Editorial Bad Initiatives Won't Lead the Way to a Colorblind Society
May 22, 2003: The membership of the task force Black males are all but disappearing from Georgia's high schools and colleges, and state officials said Wednesday they intend to reverse the disturbing trend. While college-age African-American males constitute 16 percent of the state's population, they make up only 7.2 percent of the students enrolled in Georgia's public colleges and universities. See article Regents Adopt Ideas to Increase Black Male Enrollment
May 20, 2003: Summer programs open only to minority students have been dropped or changed at 15 or more colleges and universities, with two groups opposed to affirmative action claiming credit for the changes. Ê The schools that have altered summer enrichment programs are among 30 institutions that received letters earlier this year from the Center for Equal Opportunity and the American Civil Rights Institute. See article Colleges Change Summer Minority Programs
May 20, 2003: Earlier this year, when the White House weighed in on the landmark affirmative action case before the Supreme Court, President Bush said he opposed racial quotas but left unanswered the crucial question of whether race can be a factor in government programs. See article Energy Policy Spurs Affirmative Action Debate
May 19, 2003: The presentation of the class of 2003 was the central event at this year's Black Senior Celebration. The ceremony here, attended by almost half of the university's 140 black graduating seniors, followed separate celebrations that honored Asian American and Latino seniors in the weeks leading up to Penn's general graduation ceremony today. University officials say these racially and ethnically themed ceremonies are a way for minority students to celebrate their cultural connections as well as their ability to overcome the special challenges they face at predominantly white universities. See article Diversity or Division on Campus?
May 18, 2003: High-ranking Justice Department lawyers privately express hope that the Jayson Blair scandal at the New York Times could push the Supreme Court to rule against racial quotas in the University of Michigan case. The high court has been considered split 5 to 4 over Michigan, with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor the unknown swing vote. See article Could Times Scandal Sway Court?
May 17, 2003: See Affirmative Action Editorial Affirmative Action Reaction
May 16, 2003: Stepping once again into the charged arena of racial politics, University of California regents voted Thursday to formally oppose a state ballot measure sponsored by regent Ward Connerly that would stop the state from collecting most kinds of racial data. See article UC Regents Reenter Racial Politics War
May 15, 2003: See Affirmative Action Editorial Feature the Court and the University
May 13, 2003: The president of the University of California is asking governors of the nine-campus system to take a stand against one of their own and oppose Ward Connerly's campaign to stop state and local agencies from collecting race data. Ê The request follows a decade of debate between Connerly---a UC regent who led successful efforts to block the use of race in UC admissions and dismantle many affirmative action programs in California--and UC administrators and faculty. See article UC Chief Opposes Campaign Vs. Race Data
May 12, 2003: Sitting on a bench on the bucolic campus of the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, sophomore Jodi Ann Gordon didn't hesitate when asked why she had come to a historically black college. "I personally wouldn't go to a predominantly white college," said the African-American student from Hartford, Conn. "It's a comfort-level thing." That sentiment, a fairly common one at UMES, is now at issue in the landmark affirmative action case before the U.S. Supreme Court. In an unlikely twist, opponents of racial preferences in college admissions have seized on historically black colleges to help make their argument against affirmative action. See article Black Colleges Drawn into Fight over Affirmative Action Policies
May 8, 2003: This city has joined a small but growing movement to use income, not race, as a primary factor in assigning students to schools. For 4-year-old Noah Chisholm, that has meant attending kindergarten at the Fletcher-Maynard Academy this year, a school where most children are poor enough to receive free or discounted lunches. See article Cambridge Schools Try Integration by Income
May 7, 2003: Several public and private universities, including Princeton University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have announced they will eliminate or alter summer programs and scholarships that accept only minorities. See article 10 Universities Cut Programs for Minorities
May 6, 2003: See Affirmative Action Editorial Diversity Movement Promotes Uniformity
May 2, 2003: For the past few months, the headlines have been dominated, of course, by President Bush's decision to go to war with Iraq and the subsequent military campaign. But one domestic news story was sufficiently important that it garnered significant coverage for a few days. That story was the story of the Supreme Court's oral arguments, a few weeks back, in the University of Michigan cases. See article, The Importance of Looking to Government
See Affirmative Action Editorials: Race in America: Illusion vs. Reality, One Justice Away, Affirmative Action--May It Rest in Peace
April 28, 2003: A new poll highlights Americans' conflicted feelings about affirmative action at colleges: A majority of those surveyed said it benefits society, but even more said schools should not admit minorities who have lower grades than other qualified candidates. See Poll: Split on Affirmative Action
April 25, 2003: In the latest chapter in Boston's 30-year battle over school desegregation, a federal judge ruled yesterday that the city's school assignment plan did not discriminate against white students. The judge, Richard G. Stearns, ruled that the plan, which reserves 50 percent of the seats in elementary and middle schools for children from outside the neighborhood, is constitutional. See article Boston School Plan Isn't Biased Against Whites, Judge Rules
April 24, 2003: See Affirmative Action Editorials Affirmative Action on Trial, Just One Justice Away from Blow to Equal Protection
April 22, 2003: See Affirmative Action Editorial Affirming Exploitation
April 20, 2003: See Affirmative Action Editorial Diversity: Not There Yet
April 19, 2003: If race-conscious admissions are eliminated at the nation's professional schools, the United States will likely witness a dramatic decline in the number of black and Hispanic doctors and lawyers, according to forecasts prepared by associations representing medical and law schools. See article Wider Fallout Seen From Race-Neutral Admissions
April 18, 2003: See Affirmative Action Editorial Long Road to Healing
April 17, 2003: For the second straight year, the University of California has admitted a greater proportion of underrepresented minority students than at any time since a ban on affirmative action in admissions took effect. But the overall percentage of underrepresented minorities -- and African Americans in particular -- declined this year at UC's most competitive campuses, UC Berkeley and UCLA. See Minority Admissions Rise in the UC System but Fall at UCLA
April 14, 2003: See Affirmative Action Editorials Reject Discrimination, Not Only Reverse Discrimination, The Big Picture in Admission, Military Deserves Diversity
April 11, 2003: The Bush administration announced yesterday a government-wide recruitment program aimed at expanding opportunities for minorities, women and people with disabilities to compete for senior executive positions in the civil service. Kay Coles James, director of the Office of Personnel Management, said the program was urgently needed to improve diversity in the Senior Executive Service, the government's cadre of 7,000 top managers, scientists and technical experts who oversee day-to-day operations at agencies. See An Effort to Increase Diversity Among Senior Executives
April, 9 2003: Affirmative Action Editorials: Affirmative Action and College Admissions, Moral Responsibility in Matters of Race, Search for the Middle Ground
April 7, 2003: See Affirmative Action Editorials Affirmative Action Double Standard, Ward Connerly Throws Stones, Choose the Other Bakke, Study Urges Economic Diversity on Campus, Let's Have Excellence and Diversity, A Dose of Judicial Diversity, You Say You Want Diversity?
April 6, 2003: The numbers were unprecedented. Before last week's Supreme Court hearing on the University of Michigan's affirmative action admissions policy, about 300 organizations, including five dozen major corporations, many unions, other universities and student groups, asked the court not to bar all consideration of race in recruiting for such institutions. See article Diversity on Campus
Slapped on a signpost, no bigger than a name tag, a neatly printed sticker hovers above the Diag, the University of Michigan's main square. "Dear Mr. President," it says, "this is what democracy looks like." Black and Latino students have wrapped gags over their mouths to signify how small their presence would be without affirmative action, and have mentioned the swastikas they sometimes find scribbled on their doors. See article Pros, Cons, and Don't Cares at the University of Michigan
Virginia Tech reinstated its affirmative action policy Sunday, despite assertions from the attorney general's office that some of its diversity programs are unconstitutional. See article Virginia Tech Restores Affirmative Action
See also Affirmative Action Editorial: Why Justice O'Connor Could be Affirmative Action's Savior
April 5, 2003: The Supreme Court's upcoming ruling on affirmative action in college admissions has the potential to subtly or significantly affect the nation's 15,000 school districts, many of which have long considered race in shaping student enrollment plans. See article Michigan Case May Affect Private Education
See also Affirmative Action Editorials Gotham's Quota Flashbacks, A Bad Week to Fight, Scapegoat Syndrome
April 4, 2003: Democrats and civil-rights leaders are pledging to use President Bush's support of a challenge to the University of Michigan's affirmative-action policy as a rallying point to turn out minority voters in the 2004 presidential election. That promise comes as the U.S. Supreme Court considers arguments it heard this week in which the Bush administration contends Michigan's policy gives unconstitutional preferences to minorities seeking admission to the university and its law school, while making it more difficult for whites. See article Democrats Vow to Use Affirmative Action Against Bush in '04
April 3, 2003: Thousands of pages have been filed in the six years since the University of Michigan began battling to protect its race-conscious admissions policies. Yet Tuesday morning, several U.S. Supreme Court justices focused on just 30 pages filed on behalf of a group of prominent retired military officials who came out in favor of U-M's admissions policies. Court observers said Wednesday that the brief could play a key role in the outcome of the case. See article Military Academy Admissions May be Key to U-M Case
April 3, 2003: Though more than 60 U.S. companies filed briefs to support the University of Michigan's controversial affirmative action policy, there's little evidence that those firms are calling for the same practice at other schools. See article Firms Don't Support Spreading U-M Policy
See Editorials on Affirmative Action: Affirmative Action Can Help Achieve Diversity, Court Ruling Should Reflect Nation's Values on Race, About Race: Supreme Court Should Stick with Its 1978 Rule on Affirmative Action in College Admissions, On Fairness, Mosk Got It Right, On Fairness, The End of Affirmative Action?, An Affirming Message
April 2, 2003: See news articles on Affirmative Action and the Supreme Court Case: High Court Confronts Race Issue, Affirmative Action Case Splits US, Affirmative Action Foes Field Skeptical Queries, Affirmative Action on Trial, Kennedy Calls LSA Policy a Quota System, O'Connor is Swing Vote in Affirmative Action Debate, A Defense Team of Thousands, Thousands of Students Gather to Support Admission Policies, Supreme Court Tackles Affirmative Action, On Affirmative Action, High Court Seeks Nuance, High Court Weighs Affirmative Action, Court Considers Use of Race in Admissions, Demonstrators Sing, High Court Appears Split on Affirmative Action, The Final Arguments, O'Connor Questions Foes of UM Policy, Options: End Preferences or Rewrite Admission Rules, An Affirming Action, Students from Black Colleges Rally Outside Supreme Court, Analysis of Oral Arguments, Military May Play Crucial Role in Case, U-M Case Poses a Fairness Question, Excerpts from Arguments Before the Supreme Court, Admission Bias Charge Stirs Jefferson, Thousands March for Affirmative Action, Spectators Get Creative in Effort to Hear U-M Case, Area Near Courthouse Packed
See Editorials on Affirmative Action: Lawsuits Hide Real Threat to Education, Attacks on Minority Programs Harmful, Futile, The Case is Submitted, Diversity Activists, Affirmative Action, For the Time Being
April 1, 2003: Supreme Court justices, confronting affirmative action in higher education for the first time since outlawing quotas 25 years ago, debated Tuesday whether colleges and universities may legally consider race when admitting students. Thousands of demonstrators, nearly all of them affirmative action supporters, marched outside the court to urge the justices to uphold school admissions programs that give preference to minority applicants. See article High Court Weighs Affirmative Action
See also related news stories: Supreme Court Hears Arguments, Justices to Hear U of Michigan Case Today, Coleman Leads U Through Lawsuit on Race, Plaintiffs Discuss Goals in Bringing Their Cases Before Supreme Court, Rally Sets Stage on Affirmative Action, One University's Case for Race, At U Michigan Minority Students Find Access and Sense of Isolation, Military Academy, Affirmative Action Backers Gather in D.C., Grutter v. Michigan, Hundreds Await Affirmative Action Case, Advanced High Court to Weigh Racial Preference Cases
See Affirmative Action Editorials: Not Quite Colorblind, How About Honest Affirmative Action?, A Case for Diversity, Teacher's Bias Experiment Offers Us Hope, Friends of Affirmative Action, Partial Leg Up for Minorities, Court Should Stand by Bakke Ruling, Moment of Truth, Affirmative Friends, Beyond Bakke, Black College Students Need to Make Some Noise, Challenge of Diversity, Quota Crossroads, Nation's Leaders Know Affirmative Action Works
March 31, 2003: See Affirmative Action Editorials Lessons from Affirmative Action's Past, Affirmative Action: There's a Third Way, Racial Preferences as Slavery Reparation, When Race Matters, At what cost? Ending affirmative action risks good of educated society, The Big One Hits the Courts, UM Admissions Cases, And Justice For All, A Primer: Debate is Deeper than Diversity, Ruling May End Affirmative Action, Court Takes Up Racial Preferences in Landmark Case
March 30, 2003: The Boston University admissions committee was set to offer a coveted slot in next fall's freshman class to an applicant from Newark, N.J., though his SAT scores were far below the school's standard and despite a few troubling syntax errors in his application. But their deliberations were stopped cold by a perplexing recommendation from the applicant's high school counselor. See article At Boston U 'Holistic' Admissions Venture Beyond Black and White
March 30, 2003:In the most significant test of racial preferences in 25 years, the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) will confront on Tuesday whether a university can adopt admissions policies favoring black and Hispanic applicants. Taking up its most important case since deciding the 2000 presidential election, the high court will hear arguments by the Bush administration and by a lawyer for three unsuccessful white applicants to the University of Michigan that the policies should be struck down. See article Supreme Court to Hear Key Racial Preference Case
March 30, 2003: As the Supreme Court prepares itself to tackle affirmative action in university admissions this week, a new offensive is well under way against scholarships and summer programs intended to ease minority students into college life. The Center for Equal Opportunity and the American Civil Rights Institute, two groups that oppose affirmative action, have threatened to file federal complaints against about 30 universities, contending that their reliance on race to determine eligibility for certain awards and academic enrichment programs violates civil rights law. See article Attack on Colleges' Aid to Minorities Widens
March 30, 2003: Asian American lawyers have taken a strong stand on university affirmative action in the case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court this week -- and on opposite sides of the issue. The Asian American Legal Foundation, based in Northern California, agrees with the white plaintiffs and urges the court to end race-based admissions policies. "The Constitution protects individuals, and individuals should not be judged on their race," says Alan Tse, a San Francisco lawyer. See article Affirmative Action Case Splits Asian Americans
March 29, 2003: They are coming by bus, car, plane and trainfrom Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids and Lansing, from California, Texas, Virginia and dozens of other states. They are high school students, college students, young radicals and old liberals, union members, business leaders, teachers, housewives and husbands and government officials -- including Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and the Detroit City Council. See article Washington-Bound: Buses to Carry Thousands to Back Affirmative Action
As schools brace for next week's Supreme Court arguments on affirmative action in university admissions, a new report from the US Department of Education says colleges should consider using a slew of ''race-neutral'' methods to build campus diversity. See article Report Bolster's Bush's Stance
See Affirmative Action Editorials, Is Diversity Overrated?, Race is Never Neutral, A Policy that Depends on Segregation, Admissions and Denials of Responsibility , UM Took a Risk
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
March 28, 2003: Twenty-five years ago when the US Supreme Court issued its landmark affirmative- action decision in the Bakke case, Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote a separate opinion arguing for the necessity of using racial classifications to remedy historic discrimination against blacks. He lost that fight by one vote, with only four of the nine justices agreeing that the Constitution permits the use of racial quotas and set-asides in such circumstances. From that moment, the debate over affirmative action shifted in a fundamental way. See article Affirmative Action's Evolution
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 22, 2003: One vital requirement of the American military -- one we cannot afford to lose sight of in peace or war -- is a highly qualified, racially diverse officer corps that is educated and trained to command America's racially diverse enlisted ranks. A cohesive officer corps is essential to the military's ability to protect national security. See A Multicultural Military
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 15, 2003: The divide among Asian-Americans over affirmative action runs right through the apartment that Michael Nailat and Jonathan Hsieh share. The young men are both Asian-Americans, both children of immigrants, both students at the University of California, Irvine, across the street. Yet their family stories are quite different. Nailat's father, a Filipino immigrant and civil engineer in the U.S. Navy, worked extra jobs to support his family, sometimes saving the change he found as a janitor. Hsieh is the son of an accountant and a homemaker, Chinese immigrants who settled in affluent San Marino, about 70 miles from Nailat's home in working-class Oxnard. As early as middle school, Hsieh says, some of his fellow students hired tutors and most assumed they'd go to a four-year college. Hsieh believes university admissions should be based on merit alone. Nailat supports affirmative action and says the differences between his upbringing and his roommate's show why such policies are necessary. See article Asian Americans Ponder Affirmative Action
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 Decision 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: WHEN FACED with challenges to the city's affirmative action programs, the Menino administration has blinked. In 1999, the mayorally appointed School Committee ran from the chance to ask the US Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of a sensible admissions policy that used scores, grades, and race to assure a diverse and qualified student body at Boston Latin School. See Backpedaling in Boston
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: A federal appeals court on Monday upheld the city's affirmative action law giving minority- and female-owned contractors a better chance at winning some contracts. Meanwhile, Boston's mayor abolished a similar program Monday, saying it is unlikely to withstand a legal challenge. See Court OKs Denver Affirmative Action Law
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
February 11, 2003: State policies that guarantee college admission to a top layer of high school seniors, a practice the Bush administration favors as an alternative to affirmative action, actually have had little impact on minority enrollment at public universities, two new Harvard studies say. See articles Admissions Plans Faulted; Admissions Studies Find Flaws; Flaws Seen in Campus Policies
Affirmative Action Editorial: Success with Outreach, Not Racial Preferences; U Michigan Gets Broad Support on Using Race
February 10, 2003: Affirmative action and racial quotas have been hot topics lately at college campuses across the nation, but University officials say they do not consider race to be a determining factor in admissions. See College Percent Plans May Not Help Diversity and University Officials
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
February 10, 2003: The mayor has abolished an affirmative action program that gave preferences to minority and women-owned businesses in awarding city contracts. Mayor Thomas M. Menino said the 25-year-old Minority and Women Business Enterprise program is unlikely to withstand a court challenge. He issued an executive order last week giving contracting preferences to "small and local-owned businesses." See article Boston Axes Affirmative Action Contracts and Program Halt Stirs Minority Concern
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: Princeton University will stop offering a summer enrichment program for minority students because of concerns that it could be targeted in an affirmative action lawsuit. See article Princeton to End Minority Program
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
See also Firms: Affirmative Action Helps Recruits and How the Solicitor General's Brief Fails to Fulfill His Office's Proper Role
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
See also Editorial: Affirmative Action, Without It Our Talent Pool Will Dry Up
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
See also Business Clashes with Bush over Race
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 24, 2003: See Editorials on Affirmative Action: Bush's Alien Views; Contradictions in Bush's Position; Affirmative Action Affects Women Too; A Boy and His Benefits; Civil Rights for Old Boys
January 23, 2003: Last week, President George W. Bush announced that his administration is filing a Supreme Court brief opposing the University of Michigan's affirmative action plan. With this announcement, our nation is once again confronting the difficult question of how best to promote diversity in our halls of higher education. As we wrestle with this issue, we should take pride in the fact that we are not debating whether diversity is a laudable goal. See editorial by Hillary Rodham Clinton The Path to Diversity
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
See also Affirmative Action Editorials: Our View; The Voice of Privilege; Bush Plays "Let's Pretend" on Racial Diversity; Affirmative Action Bush-Style; "Quota"? Not Quite
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
See also Affirmative Action Editorials: Bush Misses the Mark; Cries of 'Reverse Racism Ring Hollow; Failed College Math; Bush Needs a Lesson in Matters of Racism; This Affirmative Action Baby; All Things Being Equal; Anti-Quota Smoke Screen; President Has Wrong School in Cross Hairs
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
See also Affirmative Action Editorials: With Opportunity Lost, The Dream is Lost; How Not to Help People Get Ahead; Bush Talks Both Ways; Mr. Bush and Diversity; What Would King Have Thought?
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
See also Affirmative Action Editorial Dishonest on Diversity
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
See also Bush Lawyers Urge Top Court to Back White Students and Remarks by the President
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
Affirmative Action Editorials: UM Admissions Systems Use Quota, Lawyers Say; Race-Neutral Plans Have Limits in Aiding Diversity, Experts Say; Minority Enrollment Lags Under Plans; Race-Neutral University Admissions in Spotlight; False Premise; White House: Race Rules Unconstitutional; Bush's Negative Action; Diversity Vs. Quotas; End of Affirmative Action?; Let Colleges Use Their Best Judgment; The Great Demancipator; Bush Administration Calls Affirmative Action Plan "Plainly Unconstitutional"
See also Rice Helped Shape Bush Decision on Admissions and Rice Statement on Campus Diversity
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
And see related articles Old Wounds Open Up Again, Bush Enters Affirmative Action Fray, President Faults Race Preferences as Admission Tool, With His Eye on Two Prizes, Color Still Marks US Job Market
Affirmative Action Editorials: Affirmative Action, UM Admissions Bush Misses Point and the Fairness of School's Policy ,Bush to Challenge UM on Race, Cases that Eroded Liberal Legislation, The Return of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Bush Enters Fight on Race, Closing School Doors, Bush Says University Uses Race "Unfairly," Bush Plays Middle on Affirmative Action
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 15, 2003: President Bush plans to declare his opposition to University of Michigan admissions policies that give preference to black and Hispanic students, injecting the White House into the Supreme Court's most far-reaching affirmative action case in a generation, administration officials said yesterday. See article President to Oppose Race-Based Admissions
See also Editorials on Affirmative Action: Bush Opposes University of Michigan on Race, White House to Oppose Michigan Policy of Race-Based Admissions, Groups Take Stand Against U-M, White House Says Target is Quotas Not Diversity, MLK used by UM Foes of Fairness
January 14, 2003: Editorials on Affirmative Action: The Merit Myth and The Racism of "Diversity"
January 13, 2003: Editorial on Affirmative Action: Diversity Will Survive, Quality Might Not
January 12, 2003: Editorial on Affirmative Action: The Fig Leaf of Diversity
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 9, 2003: Abolishing affirmative action at U.S. colleges and universities may put higher education beyond the reach of many of the nation's Latinos, a coalition of groups said Wednesday in an open letter to President Bush. Latino Groups Petition Bush
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 7, 2003: In the aftermath of the Lott affair, it's understandable that some making the political calculations at the White House would want to lessen the Republican exposure on race. A key step in any such effort would be to let Jan. 16 slip by unremarked. See editorial: End It
January 6, 2003: The Harvard sociologist Nathan Glazer argued fervently against affirmative action policies during the 1970's but later changed his mind. By the late 1990's, he and many other conservatives had come to see that failing to integrate the institutions that confer wealth and power would threaten the legitimacy of democracy itself. What the U.S. Army Teaches Us about Affirmative Action
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
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