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Letters
to the Editor:
A Continuing Need for Affirmative Action
The
Chronicle of Higher Education
May
21, 2004
To
the Editor:
A recent
article describes efforts to roll back the gains of the Supreme
Court's ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger ("Advocacy Groups
Pressure Colleges to Disclose Affirmative-Action Policies,"
The Chronicle, April 2). The Society of American Law Teachers
wishes to set the record straight on affirmative action.
In
Grutter, the court held that student diversity was a compelling
interest, and it found, based upon a large body of social science,
that the substantial educational benefits of diversity are real.
...
Having
failed to roll affirmative action back through the courts, the
Center for Equal Opportunity, the National Association of Scholars,
and the Center for Individual Rights are now engaged in a coordinated,
media-savvy campaign of resegregation through intimidation by
using onerous demands for information from state-supported universities.
We urge higher-education officials to stand their ground. ...
Selective
institutions will usually find that affirmative action -- that
is, the careful consideration of race or ethnicity as one factor
in an admissions program -- is strongly needed. Universities looking
for substantive analysis can find it in "Preserving Diversity
in Higher Education," an admissions manual available at http://www.equaljusticesociety.org/compliancemanual.
José
Roberto Juárez Jr.
Co-President
Society of American Law Teachers
Professor
of Law
St. Mary's University
San Antonio
Holly
Maguigan
Co-President
Society of American Law Teachers
Professor
of Clinical Law
New York University
New York
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http://chronicle.com
Section: The Chronicle Review
Volume 50, Issue 37, Page B18
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Copyright © 2004 by The Chronicle of Higher Education
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