Martin Belsky

 

Tuesday, February 7
Martin Belsky
Location: 2 - 3:30 pm at Student Union Theatre

The Battle Over Affirmative Action

In 1978, in a very close decision in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the United States Supreme determined that programs that set quotas for admissions would be considered to involve reverse discrimination and be in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.  Justice Powell was the "swing" vote and made the five to four vote majority for the position that affirmative actions programs that merely take "race into account" as one factor among others, however, was not unconstitutional.  

On June 24, 2003, the United States Supreme Court in Gratz v. Bollinger, and Grutter v. Bollinger reviewed two different procedures seeking to provide diversity in a student body, In Gratz, the admissions procedure for the College of Literature, Science and the Arts allowed race [“underrepresented minority status]to a basis to “add points” to  an admission profile, along with high school grades, ACT or SAT scores, relationship to alumni, special talents, leadership qualities, geography, curriculum strength and other factors. That admissions process was declared unconstitutional. 

In Grutter, the University of Michigan Law School looked at an applicant’s profile and reviewed of standardized test scores, college grades, and "all other information" including activities, background, family contacts, a personal statement, recommender's enthusiasm, and diversity.  The Law School, unlike the undergraduate school, did not add points for "under-represented minority status," but rather considered diversity as just one factor, among many, that may or may not be determinative.