Diversity at War on Campus

Terry EastlandEducation

The Assault on American Excellence In 1978, when the Supreme Court upheld race-based admissions in the Bakke case, there was just one Justice who said that the attainment of a diverse student body was a compelling state interest. Today “diversity” is no longer so obscure. Indeed, it is “the most powerful word in higher education today,” says Anthony Kronman. Kronman is a Yale Law professor and former dean of the Yale Law school. His politics are liberal yet he has not been fooled by the diversity cult. The Assault on American Excellence is his new book, which he previewed in …

Achieving, or Not, Critical Mass

Terry EastlandEducation

Inside Higher Education The Supreme Court’s leading race-based admissions case remains Grutter v. Bollinger, which was decided in 2003. In the course of upholding the use of race in the admissions policy at the Michigan Law School, the Supreme Court, with Justice O’Connor writing for a majority of five, decided that diversity can be a compelling interest the pursuit of which can justify the narrowly tailored use of race in selecting applicants. O’Connor said the policy has “the potential to enrich everyone’s education.” Which can be done by enrolling a “critical mass” of underrepresented minority students, thus ensuring their ability …

Keeping skin color and sex out of government contracting

Roger CleggRacial Preferences

Last month, the Center for Equal Opportunity weighed in with Nassau County in New York regarding the issue of preferences based on race, ethnicity, and sex in its contracting.  Here’s what we said (and this is typical of what we have said to many state and local jurisdictions over the years): June 22, 2019 To:                   Laura Curran Nassau County Executive From:               Roger Clegg General Counsel, Center for Equal Opportunity Re:                   Proposed disparity study For the legal and policy reasons stated in the attached redacted memorandum, which we sent to another jurisdiction, we urge that the County reconsider whether to …

Discrimination by Government: A History in Brief

Terry EastlandRacial Preferences

Does the Constitution permit government officials to discriminate on the basis of race? Courts first reviewed the question more than 100 years ago, and it has been at the heart of the racial admissions cases. The answer is yes, but— meaning the Constitution allows discrimination by government but only on rare occasions. The courts have said that classifying by race—that is, sorting people by race—is “presumptively impermissible.” The courts have also made clear that racial classifications are subject to “strict scrutiny,” the most stringent standard of constitutional review. To satisfy strict scrutiny, a racial classification must be “narrowly tailored” to …

Second Thoughts About Texas Tech

Terry EastlandRacial Preferences

In its investigation of the use of race in admissions at Texas Tech’s five health and science schools, the education department’s Office for Civil Rights found that three never employed it and that a fourth quit considering it a mere 10 years ago. The fifth of the five schools—the School of Medicine—still uses race in admissions but has agreed to stop doing so by the end of the year. The SOM, however, has also said that it retains the option, so to speak, of reviving the use of race. And OCR has confirmed “that an applicant’s race can be used …

The New SAT “Adversity Score”

Roger CleggEducation

Lots of recent news stories tell us that the College Board is adding an “adversity score”— looking at crime, poverty, and other demographic data from students’ neighborhoods and high schools — to the SAT scores it reports to universities for their applicants. This has attracted much attention and comment, so allow a poor but somewhat honest lawyer to put in his two cents’ worth. The principal point I’ll make is that, as a legal matter, this is of limited interest. In admitting students, schools are free to take into account pretty much whatever they like, with the notable exception of race …

Ending the Use of Race in Admissions . . . Now

Terry EastlandRacial Preferences

I return to the federal probe of Texas Tech, an unusual story in the annals of affirmative action, if only for how long the investigation took. Under the Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Tech, as a recipient of federal funds, may not discriminate on the basis of race and ethnicity in admissions. The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights enforces this non-discrimination standard. In 2005 it complained that Tech was using race and ethnicity in its admissions programs. We (the Center for Equal Opportunity) filed the complaint, and now 14 years and three administrations …

Fighting racial preferences in print, online, and over the air

Roger CleggRacial Preferences

The New York Times recently asked me to participate in a debate in its publication Upfront (“The News Magazine for Teens”), on the question, “Should Affirmative Action Be Eliminated?”  I was happy to do so, and focused on the area I thought most likely to grab teens’ attention, namely college admissions.  Here’s what I wrote: Affirmative action is a system that treats school or job applicants differently based on race or ethnicity. That’s called discrimination, and the costs of this kind of discrimination are much higher than any potential benefit. The unfairness of this system is particularly evident in college admissions. …

Termination at Texas Tech

Terry EastlandEducation

The Office for Civil Rights Investigates   The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has dismissed a complaint by the Center for Equal Opportunity alleging that Texas Tech University unlawfully used race and ethnicity as a factor in its undergraduate admissions programs, starting with the entering freshman class of 2005 — but wait! Yes, the complaint was “dismissed” in the legal sense, but not until OCR had made sure that race was no longer a consideration in the University’s admissions programs. CEO has long argued for race-neutral admissions, at Texas Tech as well as at other institutions of higher education, …

Congratulations to Texas Tech!

Roger CleggEducation

As a result of a complaint that the Center for Equal Opportunity filed in 2004 (!) against Texas Tech, the medical school there recently signed a Resolution Agreement (RA) with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, ending its use of racial preferences in admissions.  As of March 1, “an applicant’s race and/or national origin are no longer to be considered.” Kudos to Texas Tech: This is even more impressive than its run to the Final Four in the NCAA’s annual basketball championship! Our complaint was filed when, after the Supreme Court had issued its 2003 decisions narrowly …