Most literature on the American professorate provides a culture of evidence that suggests that the above account represents the typical experience endured by many African American faculty members and other faculty of color. African American faculty remain under-represented in predominantly White research universities. The number of African…

A sample of 3,484 incoming first-year students at a large, mid-Atlantic University were surveyed to assess a variety of attitudinal and behavioral variables pertinent to the college experience. The current study focused on how student value system orientation, or the degree to which values are open or closed, related to key aspects of college…

For people concerned with the future of diversity in the United States, the month of June 2003 was a momentous watershed. Nearly four decades earlier, President Lyndon B. Johnson first advocated affirmative action as a means to "seek not just freedom, but opportunity." June 2003 also saw the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's…

In the 1980s, a Republican president led a defense build-up in response to foreign crises, and his education secretary, chided the establishment on school reform. Legal experts debated the merits of affirmative action, while advocates questioned the growing reliance of students on loans instead of grants to finance a college education. Sound…

After more than five decades of racial integration and four decades of affirmative action, most of the nation's colleges and universities have not come close to eliminating the performance gap that separates many black, Hispanic, and Native American students from their white and Asian-American counterparts. Although some colleges say they are…

This article is a critique of the Dworkinian theory of fairness in the context of Affirmative Action. Although Dworkin committed tremendous endeavors in an attempt to give a fairness argument backed by an empirical study, the question of whether affirmative action is fair remains inconclusive. The sample used in the study is unrepresentative, and…

Since 1995, the University of California has been prohibited from employing affirmative action principles in student admissions. In response to this constraint, the UC has sought to pursue a number of other avenues for promoting the selection and retention of a diverse student body. In this paper we look at how officials and staff within the UC…

Affirmative action addresses disparities in higher education. Recent trends threaten gains, resegregation is underway nationally. California outlawed affirmative action, the quality of K-12 education is declining, and prison construction is soaring. African American and Latino participation in higher education has declined; both groups are…

Using administrative data from the University of California at San Diego, the author explicitly identifies and studies students admitted under affirmative action programs. On average, these students earned grade point averages (GPAs) 0.30 points lower than those of nonaffirmative students. The difference in graduation rates is larger, with 57% of…

In "Grutter vs. Bollinger," the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the use of race as one factor, among many in admissions decisions is constitutional. It is not known, however, whether future legal opinions will continue to uphold the use of affirmative action policies. Some have argued that class-based preferences can achieve many of the same goals…

The United States Supreme Court has had a significant role in the exploration and definition of affirmative action in this country. No more so than in the recent decisions related to the University of Michigan admissions cases. This article will explore the historical role of the U.S. Supreme Court and the decisions that this entity has made in…

Attacks on the legitimacy of affirmative action pose new challenges for public universities committed to creating a diverse student population without considering race or ethnicity as factors in admissions. On the basis of a case study of the controversy surrounding the building of a charter school at the University of California, San Diego, in…

Designed for students, parents, and counselors, this timely work addresses the present state of affirmative action in higher education after the landmark decisions of "Gratz v. Bollinger" and "Grutter v. Bollinger." Informative chapters provide an overall understanding of the history of affirmative action in higher education in…

Responding to Brighouse's comments, we discuss ways that institutions of higher education themselves can increase access for low-income students. We argue for the important role of community colleges and for bridge programs that colleges can establish with middle and high schools to ensure that students take the subjects necessary to prepare them…

Changes in affirmative action policies in some states create possibilities for "natural experiments" to observe the effect of public policy on racial and ethnic inequality in American society. This study measured the impact of Initiative 200, a ballot measure that eliminated affirmative action in Washington State, on the transition from…