----What to Do : faculty, students and alumni

IN THE WEEKS AFTER THE DECISION

• Read the Court's decision
• Using talking points, call and speak with news reporters at local and campus newspapers and radio stations to give them your perspective on the decision and affirmative action on your campus 
• Write an op-ed about the decision for campus and local newspapers using talking points
• Secure and read your school's affirmative action policy in light of the Court's decision
• Identify, determine the role, and secure the contact info (including email) of each of your school's affirmative action decision makers — in other words, those who will make decisions regarding the future of your school's affirmative action plan (e.g., the dean, admissions officer, admissions committee, university general counsel, university president, and/or board of trustees); send this information to pro-affirmative action professors, alumni, and students with a request they convey their personal experiences with diversity and strong support of affirmative action in emails or letters sent to affirmative action decision makers
• Meet with affirmative action decision makers to determine their positions with respect to affirmative action, and to articulate your commitment to the issue; give them the Harvard Civil Rights Project memo (available here; will launch PDF document)
• Get affirmative action decision makers’ initial sense of how the Court's decision impacts your school's policy
• If the policy requires review or revision, ask to be a part of the process and committee
• Nominate pro-affirmative action professors and students to admissions committee
• Professors can call an informal faculty lunch and give a presentation, using talking points, on Court's decision
• Monitor alumni and campus publications: to the extent anti-affirmative action views are expressed, mobilize supportive professors, alumni and students to respond with a swift and overwhelming letter campaign
• Organize with other pro-affirmative action professors, alumni, and students to work with you on these tasks
• Create email distribution list of pro-affirmative action professors, alumni, and students
• Send pro-affirmative action professors, alumni, and students our Web site address (www.preserveaffirmativeaction.org)
• Send pro-affirmative action friends who are professors, alumni, or students at other schools our Web site address and encourage them to work to preserve affirmative action at their school

IN THE MONTHS AFTER THE DECISION

• Give affirmative action decision makers Bingham/MoFo compliance manual (which will be available on this site six weeks after the decision)
• Meet with affirmative action decision makers to discuss compliance manual
• Do a public forum (talk/discussion) on compliance manual
• Stay in touch with affirmative action decision makers on a weekly basis through email or telephone, monitoring evolving attitudes toward affirmative action
• Monitor development of any admissions process that will used for students applying to enter in the 2004-05 academic year
• Organize and mobilize pro-affirmative action students returning to school (e.g., letter writing campaigns that swiftly and overwhelmingly respond to campus newspaper or radio stories critical of affirmative action)
• Create email distribution list of pro-affirmative action students
• Hold forum for students to talk about Court's decision and status of school's affirmative action plan
• Contact Susan Serrano (sserrano@equaljusticesociety.org) if it seems as though affirmative action decision makers are likely to abolish race conscious admissions at your school

ADDITONAL IDEAS FOR ALUMNI TO DO

In addition to the items listed above, alumni can also pursue these items:

• Send individual letters, emails and faxes to the dean or university president describing the importance of diversity and affirmative action in your personal experience; copy other affirmative action decision makers
• Organize through alumni organizations such Black Law Alumni Association; use their email lists, Web sites and postal mailing lists
• Send letters from alumni groups, or several alumni groups together, to affirmative action decision makers
• Send letters from alumni groups to newspapers
• Organize fellow alumni by circulating sample letters, letters to sign onto, contact info of relevant school officials, and general information
• Identify large donors and speak with them about the importance of affirmative action; if donors are receptive, organize a meeting between them and the dean or president
• Have a meeting with the Dean of Admissions for an explanation of present policy and how it may change
• Coordinate with student groups to have a forum or town hall meeting
• Contact influential professors in your field at your school