Harvard must end its race-centered selection process

Center for Equal OpportunityRacial Preferences

This post originally appeared in the Washington Times We are regressing back to a world where the color of your skin determines your personal qualities As long as Harvard practices affirmative action, applicants seriously seeking admission should submit DNA tests to move their applications down to the JV league. Admissions officers could distinguish those among a competitive pool of over 61,000 by drops of blood, rather than by what the applicants have accomplished during their young lives.   To give its admissions practices a semblance of empiricism, Harvard scores applicants in three categories: Academics, extracurriculars, and character. Those with the …

Litigation Update: Faust v. Vilsack – Race Discrimination in the American Rescue Plan

Center for Equal OpportunityRacial Preferences

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging allegedly unconstitutional race discrimination in the American Rescue Plan’s provision to offer loan forgiveness based on racial categories. The plaintiffs are twelve farmers and ranchers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Ohio, Missouri, Iowa, Arkansas, Oregon, and Kentucky. Each plaintiff would be eligible for the federal loan forgiveness program, but for their race. In response, U.S. District Judge William Griesbach issued a temporary restraining order on June 10, 2021 halting payments. Other cases subsequently resulted in similar orders. These lawsuits challenge the extent to which the …

Devon Westhill Explains Why Affirmative Action Is BAD For Black People

Center for Equal OpportunityRacial Preferences

Related posts: CEO Welcomes Devon Westhill as New President and General Counsel Devon Westhill testifies before Congress Opening Statement of Devon Westhill House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties The Justice Department Is Rethinking Affirmative Action—That’s a Good Thing

Affirmative Action Reconsidered

Center for Equal OpportunityRacial Preferences

Related posts: Affirmative Action Questions for the Candidates Illegal Labor Department Affirmative-Action Regulations The Justice Department Is Rethinking Affirmative Action—That’s a Good Thing Woody Allen and Affirmative Action

FILED: Two Briefs in Supreme Court Affirmative Action Cases

Devon WesthillEducation

Dear friends, I am pleased to report to you that CEO has once again assisted in crafting and joined a Supreme Court amicus brief filed by our friends at the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF). As a former civil rights government official, I also joined a brief filed by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ). The briefs can be viewed by following the links provided in the “Merits-Stage Amicus Briefs” section below. Both briefs support petitioners in the case of Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard/University of North Carolina in their challenge to the schools’ use of racial preferences in …

Blacks, Hispanics, Asians oppose race preferences in college admissions

Center for Equal OpportunityDocuments, Education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:Contact: Rudy GerstenWednesday April 6, 2022(703) 442-0066 (Falls Church, VA) Today, the Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) released a new report on attitudes towards racial preferences in college admissions. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in University of California Regents v. Bakke (1978), the use of race as a factor in college admissions has roiled public opinion. Dr. Althea Nagai, Senior Research Fellow at CEO, examines data from a recent Pew Research Center survey on racial and ethnic issues that shows considerable discomfort with using race to determine who should be admitted to college. Overwhelmingly, Americans of …

Opening Statement of Devon Westhill House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties

Center for Equal OpportunityEducation

Opening Statement of Devon WesthillPresident and General CounselCenter for Equal Opportunity House Committee on the JudiciarySubcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Hearing of March 1, 2022 – Discrimination and the Civil Rights of the Muslim, Arab, and South Asian American Communities Chair Cohen, Ranking Member Johnson, and distinguished Members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to provide my testimony on “Discrimination and the Civil Rights of the Muslim, Arab, and South Asian American Communities.” My name is Devon Westhill and I am the president and general counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity. CEO is …

Litigation Update: Investigating Title VI and Title IX Complaints

Center for Equal OpportunityRacial Preferences

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 supplemented Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include, in addition to barring discrimination on the ground of race, color, or national origin, sex as a protected class in federally funded education programs or activities. The purpose of enacting Title IX was to ensure that everyone, regardless of sex, would enjoy a discrimination-free educational experience. In the years since their enactment, observers have accused colleges and universities of violating Titles VI and IX in various ways. Many Title IX concerns have involved single-sex, female-only programs, scholarships, awards, fellowships, camps, …

Justices have two chances to end colleges’ racial discrimination

Devon WesthillEducation

This Op-Ed Originally appeared on the Washington Examiner The Supreme Court has before it two ideal vehicles finally to end racial preferences in college admissions. For the sake of socially and economically disadvantaged minorities, the court should courageously end the practice known as affirmative action. One case challenges Harvard’s use of race in admissions decisions. Although a private institution, Harvard receives federal funding and, therefore, is prohibited by civil rights law from discriminating on the basis of race. The other case challenges the University of North Carolina’s use of race in admissions as prohibited by civil rights law and the …