Discusses the issues addressed during the 2001-2002 term of the U.S. Supreme Court, which convened on October 1, 2001: (1) school vouchers; (2) affirmative action; (3) online pornography; and (4) the death penalty. (CMK)

Among all college applicants, the disproportionate number of qualified Asian students presents special problems to admissions officers. There is the "model minority" segment and the underside--the economically and socially deprived who are candidates for affirmative action programs. (MLW)

Minority politicians who believe that colleges have ignored them in the past are winning political posts that are crucial for higher education and are using their new power. The ethnic composition of the faculty at the University of New Mexico has been the target of legislators in the last year. (MLW)

Affirmative action in hiring black and Hispanic college faculty is still controversial and has still not achieved its objectives. Even some middle-class black professors who have benefited from the policy oppose it. Misconceptions about the function of affirmative action persists; to some, it connotes preferential treatment and racial quotas. (MSE)

Critics say the University of Maryland's race-specific scholarship program aids mostly well-off blacks and is biased against whites. The scholarships were established in 1979 to help make amends for the state's history of excluding blacks from the university. (MSE)

Some colleges and universities are establishing scholarships for "first-generation students," whose parents did not attend college. Proponents see the aid as avoiding legal problems associated with affirmative action and reaching some disadvantaged whites. Others are concerned that, if they replace race-based scholarships, minority enrollments…

Activists say colleges have a tendency to view all Asian Americans as a "model minority" succeeding without need for affirmative action. Demographic diversity of Asian Americans raises complex questions for institutions, who are unable to provide for needs of refugees, recent immigrants, and native-born Americans in two dozen ethnic…

Discusses cultural pluralism in the U.S. educational system. Suggests that an official policy of religious neutrality cannot be the equivalent of colorblindness because the purpose of religious neutrality is diversity whereas that of racial neutrality is integration and assimilation. Concludes that much remains to be decided in dealing with both…

Duke University's affirmative action plan for faculty, unveiled in the late 1980s, has had limited success. Critics blame this on a small pool of minority doctorates and in-house resistance. Success has been greatest in the history department. The school has been more successful in attracting African-American graduate students. (MSE)

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 form the basis for this discussion of students with disabilities and the role played by community college faculty in promoting their success. Practices that ensure receptive classroom environments are defined with examples. Contains 21 references. (TGO)

In March 1996, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated the University of Texas School of Law's admission policy in "Hopwood v. State of Texas." The state failed to show a compelling government interest for the affirmative-action admissions policy favoring Mexican-American and African-American applicants. Minority admissions…

Democrats who wanted more state support for colleges and scholarships were surprise victors in the November 1998 gubernatorial elections in Alabama, Iowa, South Carolina, and California. However, in the same election the political movement against affirmative action was strengthened in a Washington State referendum. Results of state referenda…

Presents the story of how General Colin Powell was persuaded to make a strong statement in support of affirmative action in higher education rather than supporting the Republican Party's nationwide legislative ban on affirmative action, patterned after Proposition 209 in California. (SM)

Describes a participatory exercise in which a simulation is used to create the context of institutional discrimination. Explains that student volunteers leave the room while two terms are defined to the remaining students. When the volunteers return, the entire class is given a pop quiz on the terms. (CMK)

This article examines current issues regarding affirmative action in today's institutions of higher learning. It addresses the two recent cases decided before the U.S. Supreme Court concerning the University of Michigan's policy. Two other recent and related issues, the "Hopwood" case and California's Proposition 209 approach, are also…