American Association for Affirmative Action Commends the Obama Administration for Supporting Equal Opportunity and Diversity

American Association for Affirmative Action Commends the Obama Administration for Supporting Equal Opportunity and Diversity in Education Programs

Association of Equal Opportunity Professionals Applauds the Departments of Education and Justice for Issuing Guidance that Supports Educational Opportunities for All Students


For Immediate Release
December 5, 2011
Contact:

Shirley J. Wilcher, Executive Director
202-349-9855; 240-893-9475

Washington, DC, December 5, 2011 – The American Association for Affirmative Action (AAAA), an organization of more than one thousand equal opportunity, affirmative action and diversity professionals and institutions highly commends the Obama Administration for issuing guidance that recognizes the “benefits that flow from achieving a diverse student body.” Citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2003 decisions in Gratz and Grutter v. Bollinger the US Departments of Education and Justice issued a joint guidance document that explains what colleges and universities can lawfully do to promote a diverse student body. In so doing, the Obama Administration has stated unequivocally that educational institutions can voluntarily consider race among other factors to promote student body diversity.

“What the Departments of Education and Justice have done is to correctly interpret the Supreme Court’s decisions and to allay any concerns that colleges and universities may have had that their efforts to achieve a diverse student body were inconsistent with the law,” said AAAA President Gregory T. Chambers. “The Administration rightly acknowledged that programs to promote access, equity and diversity benefit all students and assist those who have been historically disadvantaged to compete in the global marketplace,” Chambers added.

OCR and Justice acknowledged the legal necessity of seeking race-neutral alternatives unless they are unworkable and of using a holistic and individual assessment of the student, with race as one of many factors. Institutions can also use socio-economic status, geography, a history of hardships, or percentage plans as in the State of Texas, as additional considerations. What is significant is that the Administration has encouraged recruitment to broaden the pool of qualified applicants, partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUS) and “feeder schools” that are identifiable based on their demographics. This expands upon the range of schools that selective colleges and universities may currently use in their admissions considerations; schools that heretofore (e.g. college prep schools) may have benefited only students who were economically or racially advantaged.

Founded in 1974, the American Association for Affirmative Action (AAAA) is a national not-for-profit association of professionals working in the areas of affirmative action, equal opportunity, and diversity. We assist our members to be more successful and productive in their careers. We also promote understanding and advocacy of affirmative action to enhance access, equity and diversity in employment, economic and educational opportunities.

Obama Administration Says Schools May Use Race for Diversity

Bloomberg Business Week
December 02, 2011, 4:19 PM EST

By Greg Stohr


(Updates with comment from guidance in third paragraph.)

Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration told school districts and universities they may consider the race of students in programs to foster diversity, revoking Bush administration guidelines that had advocated race-neutral enrollment policies.

The U.S. Justice Department and Education Department laid out approaches schools can use to promote racial diversity in documents released today. The policy represents the administration’s interpretation of three recent Supreme Court decisions that have limited the use of race, without outlawing it altogether.

Full Story: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-02/obama-administration-says-schools-may-use-race-for-diversity.html

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)