Affirmative action in college admission is one of the most contested initiatives in contemporary federal policy, from its beginnings in the 1960s through the 2014 lawsuit alleging that Harvard discriminates against Asian American applicants. Supporters point out that using race and ethnicity as a criterion for admission helps remediate some of the…

Bias--both perceived and real--dictates how Asian-Americans view the college admission process. "The Harvard case" is a lawsuit brought by Students for Fair Admissions Inc. (SFFA). The group, led by conservative legal strategist Edward Blum, sued Harvard in 2014, claiming there was evidence proving bias against Asian-American students in…

In this paper, I investigate two clashing perspectives regarding the good of the university: a socioeconomic and an epistemic perspective. I position current writing on the university in the philosophy of education as being largely socio-economic and contrast this view to an earlier tradition of writing about the university that I position as…

This critical literature review investigates how "diversity" and "equity" are employed in top-cited higher education scholarship published between 2000 and 2015. No analysis to date has offered such a comparative exploration relative to well-recognized racial disparities in higher education. Findings reveal a divergence with…

Affirmative action is a topic that has been a flashpoint amongst policymakers, lawmakers, and the public since President Kennedy introduced the phrase in 1961. Within education, a legal status quo has been in place since the Supreme Court's ruling in "Regents of the University of California v. Bakke" (1978), banning strict racial quotas…

In the wake of the Supreme Court's ban on race-conscious admissions, the pursuit of diversity and equity in higher education is increasingly under threat. While access to higher education has improved overall for historically underrepresented students, the quality of that opportunity remains uneven, particularly along the lines of race/ethnicity…

William Banks' 1984 article "Afro-American Scholars in the University" situated Black faculty at predominantly White institutions in a milieu noting the uses and misuses of Black scholars, constituencies in conflict, the range of responses from Black scholars, and the standards and realities for their advancement in academia. Banks…

In "Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College ("SFFA")," the United States Supreme Court revisited an issue that had been litigated before it twenty years earlier. In two separate cases brought against the University of Michigan, the issue was whether it was a violation of the Constitution…

College presidents are important administrators who are frequently expected to address the public when racism occurs on college campuses. However, journalists and administrators often react to events and implement initiatives without understanding the broader context surrounding racial incidents. On historically White campuses, college presidents'…

Racial affirmative action policies are widespread in college admissions. Yet, evidence on their effects before college is limited. Using four data sets, we study a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that reinstated affirmative action in three states. Using nationwide SAT data for difference-in-differences and synthetic control analyses, we separately…

This report offers analysis of the University of Tennessee's Diversity Action Plans. Every academic college and every Vice-Chancellor Unit on campus issued plans. True to Chancellor Donde Plowman's vision, these colleges and units propose extensive and ideologically-charged reforms. The National Association of Scholars finds in these plans nothing…

In the shadow of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold raceconscious policies in "Fisher v. University of Texas" (2016), and midway to Justice O'Connor's 25-year sunset clause in "Grutter v. Bollinger" (2003), affirmative action remains contentious. This qualitative theoretical study posits that we need not speculate about…

This report addresses the actions taken in September 2021 by the administration of Indiana University Northwest that led to the dismissal and revocation of tenure of Dr. Mark McPhail. The investigating committee found that IUN violated several AAUP-recommended standards of academic due process and the protection of intramural speech in the…

Affirmative action critics argue that race-conscious admissions policies are keeping Asian American enrollment numbers unfairly low because Asian American students are held to higher admissions standards than applicants of any other race or ethnicity. "Selective Bias: Asian Americans, Test Scores, and Holistic Admissions" evaluates the…

The United States and Brazil have histories of colonization, slavery, and racial inequalities. In addition, both countries have adjudicated cases centered on the use of affirmative action admissions policies in higher education but with differing results. The constitutional court of Brazil, the Supremo Tribunal Federal, ruled universities could…