Responses

Elizabeth Discussion:

 One of the more recent and highly visible U.S. court decisions regarding affirmative action within admissions was a district court decision regarding Harvard University’s race-conscious admissions policies. The initial lawsuit was started by Students for Fair Admissions, an anti-affirmative-action group (Gluckman, 2019). A U.S. District judge, Alisson Burroughs ruled in favor of the school’s admissions policies, stating that: “Ensuring diversity at Harvard relies, in part, on race conscious admissions. The use of race benefits certain racial and ethnic groups that would otherwise be underrepresented at Harvard and is therefore neither an illegitimate use of race or reflective of racial prejudice” (Gluckman, 2019, para 2). Some argue that these policies set forth by Harvard have resulted in the discrimination of well-qualified Asian American applicants from admission. As a result of this case, many other institutions, or states, in the case of public institutions, have begun to examine their admissions policies more closely as it relates to affirmative action.

            One such example of a state that has decided to reexamine its admissions policies as a result of the Harvard case is Washington. Affirmative Action within Washington state public institutions have been banned for the past several decades. Washington state legislators voted to restore affirmative action, but a group of Asian Ameri cans within the state gathered enough signatures to turn the legislation into a public referendum matter (Elias & Mangan, 2019 This means that the voters in the state of Washington will get to decide, by public vote, whether the proposed legislation becomes a law or not. A proponent of the legislation, Ana Mari Cauce, who is the President of the University of Washington, stated that the ban “sends the message that UW, and Washington as a whole, does not welcome or value diversity” (Elias & Mangan, 2019, para 12). Some argue that diversity goals relate to a better educational environment for all, having students challenged by the perspectives of others, but some argue that race or ethnicity should not be considered as criteria for admission at all, as when one group gains preference, another group tends to lose out.

Washington State Referendum 88 was rejected by the majority.

References

Elias, J. & Manga, K. (2019, Oct 1). Washington state voters will decide whether to reinstate affirmative action. Here’s what you need to know. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www-chronicle-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/article/Washington-State-Voters-Will/247362

Gluckman, N. (2019, Oct 1). Everything is not sunshine: What the Harvard decision means for race-conscious admissions. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from  https://www-chronicle-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/article/Everything-Is-Not/247262

Nicholis Discussion:

In the court case Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action (No. 12-682), The Coalition sued the Governor of Michigan and the Board of Regents over the violation of the Equal Protection Clause. In 2014, The Supreme Court upheld the ban on Race-Conscious Admissions by the state's public colleges. The argument from the plaintiffs were that the measure had been clear discrimination against the minority groups within the state and gave them a political disadvantage in policies that benefited them. This argument was largely disregarded by the moajority. 

I believe that institutions have goals related to diversity because often times it is in their mission statement and values to develop an inclusive environment. Additionally, diversity is critical to developing out of the box thinking as students, professors, and administration formulate ideas, policies and opinions from multiple perspectives. Having goals related to diversity can help foster such an environment as well as ensure that federal funding is received due to compliance to laws and regulations already in place such as Title VI and Title IX Equality is critical in our society and giving all people an equal chance to better their lives and further their education is key to progressing economically as a whole. 

Reference: 

DeSantis, N. (April 22, 2014). Supreme Court Upholds Michigan's Ban on Race-Conscious Admissions. Retreived from  https://www-chronicle-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/blogs/ticker/supreme-court-upholds-michigans-ban-on-race-conscious-college-admissions/76335