Affirmative Reaction

Terry EastlandRacial Preferences

Now there was some interesting news—the story of a college that had ended affirmative action. I hustled to write a piece about this, only to find out that the College of Charleston was touting its commitment to affirmative action and going to continue to practice it in its admissions program. Too bad, at least for me. I wound up revising my article, published a few weeks ago in The Weekly Standard. The Charleston reversal (or whatever it was) remains compelling for the reminder it sends—namely, that the legal doctrine under which the courts have permitted racial preferences in admissions has …

Good News: Trump Rescinds Obama’s “Affirmative Action” Guidance

Roger CleggRacial Preferences

On July 3, the Trump administration announced that it was rescinding Obama-era guidance on the use of race and ethnicity in student admissions (higher education) and assignments (K–12). This is good news. As I explained on National Review Online as the Obama statements were issued — here and here and here, for example — they misread the law and were bad policy as well. It’s not that complicated: As a policy matter, skin color and national origin should not play a role in deciding where a student can go to school. The costs of such discrimination overwhelm any claim of …

The Latest Affirmative Action Suit May Succeed Where Others Failed

Terry EastlandEducation

In case you’re coming late to the story: a lawsuit has been filed against Harvard College alleging racial discrimination against Asian American applicants in its admissions programs. The headline above invites the question of whether the case might spell the end of race preferences in admissions. After all, at some point, as Justice Sandra Day O’Connor pointed out, race-based preferences must have “a termination point.” They can’t go on forever. They are morally and legally discriminatory, and they make no sense in our multi-racial, multi-culture country. Maybe Harvard will settle before the trial in October and quit its racial admissions, …

Google and Mismatch

Roger CleggEmployment

The Washington Post ran an article recently on Google and its demographics. Most of it is devoted to discussing the company’s “diversity” efforts and its painfully slow progress in achieving the politically correct racial, ethnic, and gender balance it wants. Too many white and Asian men, not enough of everyone else. But fear not: The suits — does Google have “suits”? — acknowledge “we need to do more to achieve our desired diversity and inclusion outcomes,” so department heads will be “tasked with meeting intermediate milestones,” and the company has set as one of its “major goals” to “reach or …

Investigating Discrimination at Harvard

Terry EastlandEducation

I wrote this piece last month (for The Weekly Standard) on the case in which a student group is charging that Harvard College in its admissions program racially discriminates against Asian American applicants. The case could prove a turning point in the more than half-century-old debate over the use of race in admissions. The arguments in favor of using race have become weaker and weaker, as this article shows. The trial is scheduled for October 15. Visit us here at the Center for Equal Opportunity for our continuing treatment of the issues at stake. The judge in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard …

Too Many Asian Americans: Affirmative Discrimination in Elite College Admissions. (Harvard, MIT, Caltech)

Roger CleggDocuments, Education

Last Friday, Students for Fair Admissions filed its motion for summary judgment against Harvard for its admissions discrimination against Asian-American applicants on the basis of race. You can read the motion and the various supporting documents here. Edward Blum, president of the organization, said, “Today’s court filing exposes the startling magnitude of Harvard’s discrimination against Asian-American applicants,” adding that it “definitively proves that Harvard engages in racial balancing, uses race as far more than a ‘plus’ factor, and has no interest in exploring race-neutral alternatives.” He also said, “We believe that the rest of the evidence will be released in the next …

Affirmative Discrimination in Elite College Admissions

Terry EastlandEducation

It’s against Asian American applicants Last week’s news brought the story that New York City mayor Bill de Blasio wants to scrap admissions policies for three public high schools in the city that are among the best in the country. Apparently, too many Asian Americans get in while too few blacks and Latinos do. De Blasio speaks favorably about new policies based on “new definitions of merit.” Let’s hope that the mayor recovers his wits before he imposes a cap or ceiling on the number of Asian Americans the schools accept. Our research fellow Althea Nagai discusses below in a …

The Mismatch Game

Terry EastlandRacial Preferences

It’s been 13 years since I wrote the article below (for The Weekly Standard) on Richard Sander’s intensive study of affirmative action in American law schools. Sander, a lawyer and economist, found “a system of racial preferences that, in one realm after another, produces more harms than benefits for its putative beneficiaries.” Sander became one of the most compelling critics of affirmative action, the co-author with Stuart Taylor of Mismatch. Read my article as an introduction to the mismatch school of thought. Pick up the book for the full treatment of the topic.   Affirmative action emerged in the 1960s …

Google in the Dock

Terry EastlandEmployment

When diversity morphs into discrimination. A Google engineer objecting to racial preferences in employment got my attention when he was fired earlier this year. In telling Arne Wilberg’s story, published last month in The Weekly Standard, I was struck by the extent to which Google managers thought they could actually use hiring initiatives that categorically excluded from consideration job candidates of a certain race or sex. You’d think that at least one of those managers would have recalled Martin Luther King’s dream “that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged …

The Nitty Gritty of Diversity

Terry EastlandEducation

How many minority students = a critical mass? That’s a good exam question, but not one that advocates of race preferences in admissions have been able to answer, as I explained below in this article for The Weekly Standard. In 2003 Justice O’Connor said that schools may seek to enroll a “critical mass” of minority students. But she didn’t say what that term required, nor has any other Justice since then. Justice Scalia, ever the great wordsmith, used a dissenting opinion to refer to critical mass as “the mystical critical mass” and “the fabled critical mass.” Good adjectives for a …