Nebraska Bars Use of Race in Admissions

Inside Higher Ed
November 5, 2008

Nebraska on Tuesday became the fourth state to ban the consideration of race in admissions decisions by public colleges and universities. California, Washington State and Michigan have previously approved such bans.
With more than 90 percent of votes counted in unofficial results, 58 percent of Nebraska voters were backing the ban. A similar measure in Colorado was narrowly behind, with just over half of the vote counted early Wednesday and without a clear indication of the final outcome.
Even if Colorado also bans the consideration of race, the 2008 elections will end up inflicting a lesser blow to affirmative action than many originally believed would be the case. Ward Connerly, the anti-affirmative action activist who led the fight against the consideration of race in California and then took his campaign national, had hoped Tuesday would be a “super Tuesday” for his movement — and at one point planned for referendums to take place in Arizona, Missouri and Oklahoma in addition to Colorado and Nebraska. But difficulties with getting petitions on the ballot led to defeats for his effort before the measures could go before voters — and that’s crucial because, when given the chance, voters have tended to approve such measures.
Educators in Nebraska and Colorado — as have educators in the other states that have passed these measures — warned that passage would make it more difficult to recruit and retain diverse student bodies.
Advocates for affirmative action and for curbing affirmative action split as expected on Tuesday’s results.
“We had terrific success this year in keeping it off the ballot in three states,” said ReNee Dunman, director of equal opportunity and affirmative action at Old Dominion University and president of the American Association for Affirmative Action. She said that state activists were growing more aware of the “deceptive tactics” used to promote such referendums — and were giving ballot petitions more scrutiny.
While the Nebraska vote will “squelch opportunity,” she said that 2008 was overall a successful one for those defending affirmative action. [Full story: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/11/05/affirm]