Supreme Court opens door even wider for racial discrimination in schools

Devon WesthillEducation

Apparently, eliminating racial discrimination doesn’t mean eliminating all of it. That seems to be the takeaway from the Supreme Court’s refusal last month to grant a review of Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board. It has been no secret to anyone that the Fairfax County, Virginia, board and administrators at Thomas Jefferson High School — who were sued — had colluded in changing the admissions process at the school intentionally to discriminate against high-achieving 13- and 14-year-old Asian applicants. The Wall Street Journal reported two years ago on the text messages and emails between the powers that be …

Newton’s Third Law of DEI?

Devon WesthillRacial Preferences

Over 300 years ago, English physicist Sir Issac Newton explained in his third law of motion that for every action in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction. That law also describes well the present-day interaction between diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) advocates and its opponents. That was the gist of a recent interview conducted by The Daily Signal of Adam Guillette, president of the investigative reporting organization Accuracy in Media (AIM). AIM sent reporters undercover into a half dozen state colleges in Texas and filmed school officials who, Guillette said, “brag[ged] to us about how they ignored the …

10th Annual Federalist Society Florida Chapters Conference Panel on Students for Fair Admissions

Center for Equal OpportunityEducation

The panel discussed how these decisions are transforming the admissions process in higher education and the impact on the legal profession. Included in the discussion will be the response from academia, the permissible limits of the use of race in admissions after these decisions, and what impact this is expected to have on corporate America and the legal profession. Featuring: Prof. Tracey Maclin, Raymond & Miriam Ehrlich Chair in US Constitutional Law , University of Florida Levin College of LawCameron Norris, Partner, Consovoy McCarthy PLLCDevon Westhill, President and General Counsel, Center for Equal OpportunityModerator: Hon. Meredith Sasso, Justice, Florida Supreme …

Lawyers…Do Better

Devon WesthillEmployment

This article originally appeared on RealClearPolicy.com on February 6, 2024 “It is a sordid business, this divvying us up by race.” Those were Chief Justice John Roberts’ thoughts in a 2006 voting rights case alleging Texas legislators had redrawn voting districts illegally diluting the votes of racial minorities. That sentiment applies with even greater force when lawyers and judges are the ones doing the divvying up. On January 31, the nonprofits American Civil Rights Project and Center for Equal Opportunity sent a letter to the American Bar Association Business Law Section (ABA BLS) demanding it stop selecting law students for its Diversity Clerkship Program based …

CEO Writes to California Senators in Opposition to ACA-7

Center for Equal OpportunityRacial Preferences

For nearly 30 years, California residents have been in a pitched battle with their state government to oppose efforts to divvy them up by their race. In 1996, Californians voted to amend their constitution to prohibit the state from discriminating in employment, education, and contracting on the basis of race and other immutable characteristics. The 55% to 45% vote on Ballot Proposition 209 (Prop 209) was a major victory for colorblind equal opportunity for all Californians. The Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) was involved in advocating for that successful nearly three-decade-old campaign and in opposing every attempt since to overturn …

SFFA and Beyond [NLC 2023]

Center for Equal OpportunityEducation

This year the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. The Court held that the admissions programs of Harvard College and the University of North Carolina violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court’s ruling elevates a colorblind reading of the Fourteenth Amendment. In the college admissions context, the decision makes unconstitutional certain policies that would favor one applicant over another on the basis of that applicant’s race. College admissions offices across the country will have to alter the policies they’ve used for decades. How …

The Next Wave of Affirmative Action Litigation at Freedom & Progress 2023

Center for Equal OpportunityRacial Preferences, Uncategorized

The Supreme Court’s majority opinion in the Students for Fair Admissions case has elevated the possibility of eliminating race-based policies in other important domains, like employment and federal contracting. Where will public interest law firms go next? Are there cases already on the docket in important jurisdictions? Related posts: HP Mandates Quotas 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 Freedom and Racial Equality at Freedom & Progress 2023 Keeping skin color and sex out of government contracting

No White Faculty Allowed

Anthony PericoloEducation

At the University of Washington, civil rights laws have not stopped blatant racial discrimination in faculty hiring. This article originally appeared in The City Journal on Dec 6, 2023 by CEO Visiting Fellow Anthony Pericolo and Anita Kinney. A recent internal investigation into faculty hiring at the University of Washington reveals the exhaustive efforts that universities make to discriminate against white job applicants. After the university’s Department of Psychology identified a white candidate as best qualified for a tenure-track professor position in early 2023, the department’s Diversity Advisory Committee pressured the hiring committee to re-rank candidates in accordance with the methodology …

Center for Equal Opportunity Launches “After Affirmative Action Network”

Center for Equal OpportunityPress Releases, Racial Preferences

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                      Contact: Rudy Gersten (202) 886-2000Friday, November 10, 2023                                                      (Washington, D.C) The Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) announced Friday the launch of the After Affirmative Action (AAA) Network to monitor compliance with the Supreme Court decisions last term outlawing the use of race in college admissions. The AAA Network will serve as a clearinghouse to gather and distribute information on how schools …

Will the Supreme Court reaffirm its decision to end race-based admissions?

Anthony PericoloEducation

This article original appeared on the Washington Examiner After the Supreme Court ruled in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard that universities could not discriminate in college admissions based on race, top lawyers on the Left rushed to contain the fallout. Expressing that she was “disturbed” by the “deliberate overread of the recent court decisions,” President Joe Biden’s assistant secretary of education for civil rights, Catherine Lhamon, insisted that schools could grant race-based scholarships and host race-segregated events. And former Obama Solicitor General Don Verilli made it clear that if he has his way, K-12 schools can discriminate against white …