Colleges Accused of Giving Little Consideration to Alternatives to Affirmative Action

The Chronicle of Higher Education
December 1, 2008

Many colleges have largely disregarded the U.S. Supreme Court’s admonition to seriously consider other options before using race-conscious admissions policies, argues a forthcoming Catholic University Law Review article co-written by a former federal civil-rights official.
The majority opinion in the Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger, involving the University of Michigan’s law school, held that colleges must first give “serious, good-faith consideration” to “workable, race-neutral” alternatives to achieving diversity if their race-conscious admissions policies are to be considered narrowly tailored to promoting a compelling government interest.
But colleges have received little or no guidance from the courts or federal government on how to meet such a requirement, and as a result they “appear to be floundering,” argues the law-review article.

Full Story: http://chronicle.com/news/article/5584/colleges-accused-of-giving-little-consideration-to-alternatives-to-affirmative-action (Subscription)

AAAA Comment: Once again the Chronicle gives us only one side of this issue. The Supreme Court called for a holistic view of a student, with race being one of many factors. The article also gives us no examples of colleges and unversities acting according to the Grutter decision’s mandate to consider race neutral alternatives. Was there no one on the other side to reach for a comment on this article or the related law review article? I find that difficult to believe given the number of experts in this field. I agree with Justice Blackmun in Bakke that in order to get beyond racism, you must first take account of race; there is no other way. To accept this argument, the Chronicle will first have to accept that there is a history of racism that has led to economic, educational and social disadvantages in America. (SJW)