Judge Refuses to Force U. of Texas to Reconsider 2 Rejected White Applicants

Chronicle of Higher Education
May 29, 2008
Peter Schmidt

A federal judge has refused to order the University of Texas at Austin to re-evaluate, without any consideration of race or ethnicity, the applications of two white students who have sued the institution, challenging its admissions policies as discriminatory. The lawsuit is continuing.
In a ruling issued late today, Judge Sam Sparks of the U.S. District Court in Austin said the lawyers for the two applicants had failed to show that there was a substantial likelihood the students would have been admitted had the university not considered some applicants’ race. The judge also said the lawyers had failed to show that the students would be irreparably harmed if their applications were not re-evaluated in a race-neutral manner while their lawsuit was pending.
The judge said he did not yet have reason to believe there was a strong likelihood the plaintiffs would prevail because the case had not progressed far enough for him to pass judgment on the university’s assertions that it needed to give some consideration to race and ethnicity to enroll a “critical mass” of black and Hispanic students. He said he did not think the potential harm to the two students justified the burden that would be placed on the university if he issued a preliminary order, possibly opening the door for hundreds or thousands of other students to appeal recent admissions decisions. [To read the entire article, go to: http://chronicle.com/news/article/4578/judge-refuses-to-force-u-of-texas-to-reconsider-2-rejected-white-applicants ] Subscription required