In June 2023, the Supreme Court held that the admissions systems at the University of North Carolina (UNC) and Harvard University were racially discriminatory, effectively ending affirmative action. Are race-neutral admissions policies at selective K-12 schools next? Bob Kim considers two circuit court cases -- "Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax…

Many institutions of higher learning aim to promote greater racial diversity to harness learning benefits and foster a sense of inclusion. Nevertheless, the institutional pursuit of racial diversity is difficult to benchmark. The current constitutional boundary limits the use of race to promote the diversity in college admissions to a…

The use of interpretative phenomenological analysis served as a lens to direct the researcher in making meaning of the experiences of African American college presidents leading predominantly White institutions with race-conscious affirmative action policies in higher education. This study was a chronicle of the voices of African American college…

In "Badges and Incidents," Michael J. Kaufman undertakes an interdisciplinary investigation of American education law and pedagogy. By weaving together the invaluable insights of law, education, history, political science, economics, psychology, and neuroscience, this book illuminates the ways in which the design of the American…

In this article we extend Bell's work on interest convergence by using Harris' work on whiteness as property to articulate a cycle of interest convergence, interest divergence, and imperialistic reclamation, or convergence-divergence-reclamation (C-D-R, pronounced "cedar"). We then apply the C-D-R cycle lens to the evolution of federal…

What explains the rise of race-conscious affirmative action policies in undergraduate admissions? The dominant theory posits that adoption of such policies was precipitated by urban and campus unrest in the North during the late 1960s. Based on primary research in a sample of 17 selective schools, we find limited support for the dominant theory.…

Background: By a 5-4 margin, the U.S. Supreme Court in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 declared that voluntary public school integration programs were unconstitutional. Citing the prospective harm that students and their families might incur from being denied admission to the high school of their choice, the…

This long-awaited sequel to Richard Hofstadter and Wilson Smith's classic anthology "American Higher Education: A Documentary History" presents one hundred and seventy-two key edited documents that record the transformation of higher education over the past sixty years. The volume includes such seminal documents as Vannevar Bush's 1945…

Two legal problems highlighted by the DeFunis litigation are: (1) the proper role of race in undergraduate admissions; and (2) the procedure of underground graduate admissions. (Author/KE)

During the past three decades minorities have benefited from educational reforms. Current concerns with educational excellence conflict with equality of educational opportunity. The author believes there need not be incompatibility in the pursuit of excellence as it relates to quality or equality. (MD)

The Bakke case is the most recent of many cases in which the Supreme Court has assessed the impact of the Brown decision that racial discrimination in education is unconstitutional. The Bakke decision has established that race is a factor which may constitutionally be considered in university admissions under certain circumstances. (Author/MC)

Reviews the legal and policy issues, as well as sociohistorical developments, in higher education since Brown v Board of Education. The author's conclusions focus on the need to increase the nations' commitment toward strengthening historically black institutions of higher education and maintaining their continuing vitality as a source for…

The author discusses the effects of the Brown decision in terms of the following: his personal experiences, the status of Black colleges, the meaning of equality in education, and areas of concern for the future. (Author/MC)