We Won't Overcome
Allhoff, Hans
1 N 1.-7 1,11.,, 1 S ince 1978, when it ruled on Regents of the University of California v. Bakke and decided U.C. Davis Medical School could not set aside 16 percent—or any percent—of its dass for...
...Student outreach efforts were extended to attract prospective applicants...
...They also received phone calls from students, faculty, and staff, encouraging them to attend Boalt Hall...
...Possibility three is also a potential winner, but how long will it take for the mandarins of academe to give racial preference a new name and call it "more narrowly tailored...
...Admissions officers simply encouraged applicants to discuss cultural traditions in their personal statements and took extra note of those who were leaders or members of minority student organizations...
...This props wide open a backstage door for a play of racial favoritism...
...Second, are racial preferences "narrowly tailored" to achieve this end...
...149 were Asian (18.8...
...Inevitably, however, what were once clear gradients of merit will blur...
...2 were Native American (0.3...
...Diversity," after all, was just such a reason, invoked when "rectifying historical injustice" stopped making sense (assuming it ever did...
...But there was in fact more going on behind the scenes...
...7 Applicants' files were no longer grouped according to index scores (which represent an LSAT score and undergraduate GPA), "thus eliminating sharp cut-off points between applicants?' 5 Applicants with lower LSAT scores were "allowed to demonstrate that their excellent academic performance in college was not accurately predicted by their SAT scores...
...5 Diversity is not a compelling state interest...
...The Supreme Court taking the two cases may occasion celebrafion among opponents of affirmative action eager to see it dismantled...
...Beyond that, "diversity" has a final line of defense: wash over real differences in demonstrated aptitude by redefining merit...
...By dropping much language associated with affirmative action while continuing to practice it, Rice raised its minority enrollments back to near-record levels in quick time...
...Barbara Grutter and Jennifer Gratz were both rejected by the University of Michigan—Grutter by its law school, Gratz by its undergraduate college...
...To a white applicant like Grutter, rejected but certain she should have been admitted, Michigan will say, "For our purposes a 175 LSAT score coupled with a 4.0 undergraduate GPA is trivially better than a 170 LSAT and a 3.7 GPA...
...This is why "diversity" is now affirmative action's battle cry...
...and 467 Caucasians (57.3...
...LSAT scores and undergraduate records now matter less, while non-numerical qualifications¡ªpersonal statements, letters of recommendation, extracurricular involvements, which only admissions committee members are qualified to "evaluate"¡ªmatter much more...
...Diversity is a compelling state interest, and racial preferences are narrowly tailored to achieve it...
...5 A formula used to weigh undergraduate GPAs according to where they were earned was discontinued, "allowing admissions committee members to make their own evaluations?' Rather than lower the bar for minority applicants, Boalt Hall redefined the standards themselves...
...Michigan will admit a good class, but not a great one...
...There is an illuminating case study in Boalt Hall, U.C...
...To try to close the matriculation gap, admitted students were invited to campus to meet current students, attend classes, and meet faculty members...
...126 Asians (15.5...
...With or without Jennifer Gratz and Barbara Grutter among its enrollees, the Uni-- versity of Michigan will find ways to admit a satisfactory cast of minority students...
...A ruling can be expected by July...
...Problem is, this will never happen, no matter what a Rehnquist majority ultimately decides...
...and 538 were Caucasian (67.9...
...Both women think they should have gotten in...
...Berkeley, after all¡ªraised funds for scholarships and offered employment opportunities for minority students...
...Now enshrined as Article I, Section 31 of the California Constitution, it reads: "The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting:' In 1996, before Proposition 209 took effect, Boalt Hall's 815 incoming students included 75 who were defined as African American (9.2...
...He is now Columbia's...
...39 were either Chicano or Latino (4.9...
...The second possibility is a potential winner, but for how long...
...In November 1996, California voters passed Proposition 209 by a 54 to 46 margin...
...5 Diversity is a compelling state interest, but racial preferences are not narrowly tailored to achieve it...
...Rice University's minority enrollments dropped after Hopwood, a 1996 Fifth Circuit case which invalidated preferential admissions unless they were necessary to remedy discrimination by the school in question...
...9 Native Americans (1.1...
...Alumni groups¡ªthis is U.C...
...Nothing, really, if aggressive marketing and "outreach" were all Boalt Hall could be accused of...
...First, is racial diversity a "compelling state interest...
...The cold truth is that no objective measure of merit, coupled with a race-blind admissions process, will yield a university whose racial composition mirrors America's¡ªnot now, not five years from now, possibly not ever...
...But in 1998, minority enrollments began growing again-9 African Americans entered Boalt Hall, along with 16 Chicanos, 8 Latinos, and 2 Native Americans...
...And only a single African American actually matriculated, along with 6 Chicanos, 8 Latinos, and no Native Americans...
...Even if racial diversity is found to be a "compelling state interest," it must be achieved without causing collateral damage...
...The first is an obvious loser for affirmative action foes...
...In both Grutter and Gratz, the Court will examine two questions...
...78 who were either Chicano or Latino (9.6...
...This will soon change...
...Unlike its predecessor "justice," it gives racial preferences an ever-lasting legitimacy...
...Of 792 new students admitted, 14 were African American (1.8...
...Or it may just fly under the legal radar, identifying minority students by their personal statements rather than a checked box...
...It must be in order for achieving it to require race-consciousness and racial classification...
...Universities will simply manufacture another reason to pay attention to an applicant's race...
...Lee Bollinger was Michigan's president then...
...What happened...
...Then, Grutter and Gratz may have sued their way into a university less worth attending...
...In 1997, those numbers changed dramatically...
...To hope otherwise is to ignore how committed American universities are to a legally more intractable purpose, "diversity"—the idea that an ethnically heterogenous student body has overriding educational value, whatever its other costs...
...An August 1998 article in the campus paper, the Berkeleyan, listed the following changes in Boalt Hall's admissions policy: 5 LSAT scores were reported to faculty admissions committee members in "score bands" to reflect "a standard error of measurement" and to downplay one-, two-, and three-point differences between students...
...Davis Medical School could not set aside 16 percent—or any percent—of its dass for minority applicants, the Supreme Court has not heard another case involving racial preferences in academic admissions...
...1i...
...Alternative forms of affirmative action kicked into gear...
...What is more, they are sure they would have if Michigan had not admitted less qualified minority applicants ahead of them...
...it would in effect re-affirm Bakke, allowing Michigan and other like-minded institutions¡ªmeaning the vast majority of top-tier universities, public and private alike¡ªto continue taking race into account when making admission decisions...
...With applicants thus equalized, Michigan, without a hint of race-consciousness, can prefer some to others because of their race...
...What could be wrong, after all, with a little marketing to expand an applicant pool and make Boalt Hall a more attractive law school for minorities...
...The Court has announced that it will hear Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger in March...
...They also kept an eye open for typically Hispanic or black surnames...
...One of three decisions will be handed down in July...
...this is settled law...
...Thanks to Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, et al., it may have to go bobbing for another justificatory banner for preferences...
...Berkeley's law school...
Vol. 36 • January 2003 • No. 1
