Commissioners Todd Gaziano, Gail Heriot, Peter Kirsanow, and Abigail Thernstrom of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights have submitted the attached incisive comment regarding an issue that has long been of interest to the Center for Equal Opportunity. Here’s the background: Last month, a number of Obama administration agencies with financial-sector regulatory responsibilities jointly published in the Federal Register a proposed “Policy Statement Establishing Joint Standards for Assessing the Diversity Policies and Practices of Entities Regulated by the Agencies.” The statement comes as a result of Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank legislation, which requires these agencies each to “establish an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion” …
Racial Discrimination Found in University of Oklahoma Admissions
UPDATE (10/24/12) – CEO Responds to University of Oklahoma Statement (Oklahoma City, OK) A study released today by the Center for Equal Opportunity found evidence of racial discrimination in law, undergraduate, and medical school admissions at the University of Oklahoma. Highlights from the study are attached. The study, which analyzes data obtained from the University itself, found that African Americans were admitted to all three schools with lower academic qualifications than students from other racial and ethnic groups. There was some evidence of preferential treatment for American Indian applicants as well. Related posts: Good Briefs in the Harvard Case New …
Racial Preferences before the Supreme Court
Most of my work last week was related to Fisher v. University of Texas, the challenge to racial preferences in university admissions in which the Center for Equal Opportunity has played such a key role, and which was argued last Wednesday before the Supreme Court. I did an analysis of the oral argument for ScotusBlog – you can read the whole thing here, but here’s an excerpt: Related posts: Fisher v. University of Texas Wrap-Up – Whew! TESTIMONY OF ROGER CLEGG, PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, CENTER FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY BEFORE THE U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS REGARDING THE PROPOSED EMPLOYMENT …
Top Ten Reasons to Oppose Race Preferences in University Admissions
John Rosenberg, editor of the excellent “Discriminations.us” blogsite, and I have published an article that catalogues ten strong reasons for opposing racial and ethnic preferences in university admissions—making the case that the “diversity” rationale for such discrimination is full of holes. The article is forthcoming in the Fall issue of Academic Questions, the journal of the National Association of Scholars, and it’s already available online here and on the NAS website, here. Related posts: Politicized external review panels as unguided “diversity” missiles: California university administrators remain ultra-slow learners Good Briefs in the Harvard Case Destroying Records to Hide Race Discrimination …
Bean Counting in the Big Apple (and Elsewhere)
The City University of New York has decided to add a “White/Jewish” classification to its list of “minority” faculty categories. The full list: “African-American/black, Asian, White/Jewish,Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender, Hispanic/Latino, Individuals withdisabilities, and Italian-American.” The move does not seem to bewell-received, according to the New York Post: “Jewish professors told The Post that marking them as Jews won’t make them the chosen people on campus — and may even shrink their ranks if Jews are found to be ‘overrepresented.’”Read all about it here. Related posts: Did Juan Williams libel LU’s Hans Bader? Roger Clegg testifies regarding H.R. 40 TESTIMONY OF ROGER CLEGG, PRESIDENT …
Bad Guidance on Racial Preferences
As the K–12 school year draws to a close, school boards and superintendents will have to decide about tweaking student assignments for the fall. As they do so, they will also have to decide how much weight to give to the Obama administration’s “Guidance on the Voluntary Use of Race to Achieve Diversity and Avoid Racial Isolation in Elementary and Secondary Schools,” which was released jointly late last year by the Education and Justice Departments. The guidance encourages schools to consider students’ race and ethnicity in deciding who goes to which school. Related posts: Disparate Impact Delenda Est Good News: …
For once, the New York Times is right!
Earlier this year, the New York Times ran an editorial titled, “The Affirmative Action War Goes On.” Well, for once it’s right: That war does continue. Related posts: Update on the Struggle against Universities’ Affirmative Discrimination Fisher v. University of Texas Wrap-Up – Whew! Good Briefs in the Harvard Case BAMN! The Center for Equal Opportunity Zaps Racial Preferences
Discriminating Eye
There was a dubious Associated Press story over the weekend about how California public universities are having to struggle to achieve “diversity”—defined as a student body that reflects the general population of the state—since Proposition 209 banned racial preferences in admissions there in 1996. (Center for Equal Opportunity studies documenting discrimination there helped pass that initiative, btw.) Related posts: Diversity Myths The Mismatch Game Fisher v. University of Texas Wrap-Up – Whew! Did Juan Williams libel LU’s Hans Bader?
Affirmative Action Questions for the Candidates
With the Supreme Court set now—in an election year— to revisit the issue of racial preferences in university admissions, the various political candidates need to be ready for questions regarding their stance on affirmative action. Here are my suggested Q’s and A’s (originally posted on National Review Online here): Related posts: Did Juan Williams libel LU’s Hans Bader? TESTIMONY OF ROGER CLEGG, PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, CENTER FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY BEFORE THE U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS REGARDING THE PROPOSED EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT Five Mistakes Some Conservatives Are Making on Immigration Policy Good News: Trump Rescinds Obama’s “Affirmative Action” Guidance
Fact-Checking the New York Times
The Supreme Court’s decision to grant review in Fisher v. University of Texas, a case challenging that school’s use of racial and ethnic preferences in undergraduate admissions, got front-page, next-day treatment in the New York Times. Unfortunately, the article is misleading in some important ways. No surprise: The mainstream media’s efforts to pressure the justices are under way. Related posts: TESTIMONY OF ROGER CLEGG, PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, CENTER FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY BEFORE THE U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS REGARDING THE PROPOSED EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT Suggested Reading on Civil Rights Issues The Mismatch Game Another Reason to End Preferences