The words of Martin Luther King Jr. echoed last Thursday night at the University of Michigan’s spring dinner for central Ohio alumni.
“We believe that people should be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin,” said Jonathan Alger, coordinator of the University of Michigan’s affirmative action case under review in the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The problem is we’re not there yet. If it weren’t for the history of this country and the state of our current society, we wouldn’t need affirmative action,” he said.
Two lawsuits were brought against Michigan – one challenges the undergraduate admissions policy, and the other challenges the law school’s admissions policy. The plaintiffs say the university’s policies unlawfully discriminate against them because the policies take race and ethnicity into account as one of the factors for admission.
Alger said the lawsuits, which were launched four years ago, are expected to be decided at the end of June. Alger was among several lawyers who presented oral arguments to the Supreme Court on April 1.
He said this case will affect much more than the future of admissions policies at Michigan. The case will affect schools, businesses, military academies and labor groups, he said.
“This isn’t just about the U of M; it’s about higher education all over the United States,” Alger said.
Alger said the university’s position is that the constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court’s 1978 Bakke decision, permits it to take race and ethnicity into account in its admissions program. In the Bakke case, Justice Lewis Powell ruled race to be one of a number of factors which contributes to a healthy environment on campus. Powell ruled diversity to be an important enough goal (a compelling interest) to justify the use of affirmative action.
Michigan receives many more applications from qualified students than it can admit into its programs, Alger said. The law school receives more than 5,000 applications for about 350 spaces, he said.
At the undergraduate level, he said, more than 25,000 applications are received for about 5,200 spaces. Both the law school and the undergraduate program consider race in the admissions process, but the specifics vary. However, there are no quotas or numerical targets for specific minorities.
The university’s point system is one specific aspect of the admissions policy which has come under attack.
The maximum possible number of points a student can receive during the admissions process is 150, Alger said. Of that total, 110 points are based on the student’s academic achievements, he said.
Alger said the other 40 points are awarded based on other factors such as geographic location, personal achievement and alumni connections. The under-representation minority qualification is causing all the commotion, Alger said.
“You cannot calculate whether or not your son or daughter will be accepted into the U of M. It’s much more complicated than the news media portrays,” Alger said.
He said the alternative plan offered by the Bush administration would require universities to admit the top 10 percent of students from all high schools. This plan was adopted in Texas, Florida and California after those states stopped following affirmative action plans.
“Accepting the top 10 percent of all high schools leads to diversity only because there is a tremendous degree of segregation at secondary schools,” Alger said.
Even the authors of the Texas 10 percent plan don’t think it is the best way to ensure diversity. Alger said the authors of the Texas plan actually filed a brief with the Supreme Court supporting Michigan in the lawsuits.
“When the mother of the baby says, ‘this baby is ugly,’ I don’t think that plan will work,” said Alger.
In addition, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Michigan have already said they would challenge Bush’s 10 percent plan as unconstitutional if it were instituted at the University of Michigan.
About 13.6 percent of the University of Michigan’s current undergraduate enrollment is comprised of underrepresented minorities, and 12.5 percent of its law school enrollment is made up of such minorities, Alger said.
Alger presented a statistical analysis of a recent Michigan law school class, 15 percent of students being underrepresented minorities. According to the analysis, had that class been admitted with no consideration of race, the percentage of underrepresented minorities would have plunged to less then 4 percent.
April Opper, a Michigan graduate and law student at Ohio State, attended the speech. She championed the diversity she found at Michigan.
“I truly feel I am a different person because I went to the U of M. That was the first time I had ever been in an integrated environment. It totally changed my world-view,” Opper said.
It is hoped these affirmative action programs will eventually be unnecessary, Alger said.
“We would get to a point where race did not need to be a factor when minority students applying to the U of M have equivalent average test scores, grades, educational background and opportunity,” Alger said.
