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 II

Terry EastlandUncategorized

In a splendid report of good news, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Right has reached an agreement to resolve a complaint filed against Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), which is part of the large state university in Lubbock, Texas. Health Sciences has five separate schools, and the complaint (made by the Center for Equal Opportunity) concerned whether the current use of race in admissions by any of the schools is legal. They are: the School of Allied Health; the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; the School of Nursing; the School of Pharmacy; and the School of Medicine. …

Try, Try Again with the Supreme Court

Roger CleggDisparate Impact

For many years, the Center for Equal Opportunity tried to get the Supreme Court to rule that there is no “disparate impact” cause of action under the Fair Housing Act.  Thus, for example, if the landlord of an apartment building decided to favor potential tenants who did not have a record of violent crime — and this policy ignored race by its terms, in its intent, and in its application — then he could not be held liable for racial discrimination just because the policy had a statistically disproportionate effect on this racial group versus that racial group.   Alas, …

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 …

Dissenting Thomas

Terry EastlandEducation

Here at the Center for Equal Opportunity we followed as we usually do this year’s March Madness, which meant keeping up with Texas Tech’s excellent basketball team, which battled into the Final Four and then into Overtime in the championship game before losing to Virginia. Texas Tech also won our attention for its worthy decision to end the use of race in admissions, a position we had urged the university to take some years ago, and which the Trump administration has pressed through the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights. Even Justice O’Connor has been sympathetic to ending affirmative action …

CEO’s Successful Challenge to Racial Preferences in Admission at Texas Tech

CEO StaffEducation

In 2004, the Center for Equal Opportunity filed a complaint with the U. S. Department of Education against Texas Tech for its use of racial and ethnic preferences in admission.  This resulted in a long investigation of the school by DoEd’s Office for Civil Rights and, ultimately, an end to the use of preferences in undergraduate and medical school/health sciences admission.  The key documents related to this matter are posted here.  Related posts: Congratulations to Texas Tech! Ending the Use of Race in Admissions . . . Now Second Thoughts About Texas Tech Termination at Texas Tech