How did the University of Michigan become a viable defendant of race-conscious admissions policies? Pursuing a simple legal strategy to address "Gratz v. Bollinger" (2003) and "Grutter v. Bollinger" (2003) was certainly an option; however, Michigan's leadership chose to respond in ways that increased the institution's role in the affirmative…

This fall, the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of raceconscious K-12 student assignment policies. At a time when schools nationwide have become more racially isolated, some districts have used such policies to mitigate segregation. This article examines these policies in light of the Supreme Court's recent decisions concerning…

This paper looks at six theoretical approaches for understanding the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions and examines the theories' implications for affirmative action. The theories are as follows: (1) motivational and attitudinal models; (2) sex-role socialization; (3) sex-typed jobs and internal labor markets; (4) the constraint…

Reflects on 18 years' worth of school law columns. Many of the author's predictions have proved accurate, such as forecasts that legislation to assist handicapped students would produce an unprecedented flood of litigation; that minimum competency testing would stand the tests of time and the courts; and that school districts should avoid…

Preceded by recent affirmative action rulings, the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954) came during a time of legal retreat away from addressing racial issues. Rather than resolve America's race problems, the history and modern structure of "Brown" and other higher education desegregation cases…

Affirmative action in higher education remains a controversial topic in the US today, as it is tied in directly with citizens' varying conceptions of the larger society, and the importance of racial and other differences (in particular, socioeconomic class) in individual experiences and outcomes. This essay examines different arguments for and…

Argues that the current re-evaluation of racial preferences is unlikely to make a complete victory for either side of the affirmative action debate. Many types of compromise are possible, six of which are described. Suggests the courts should limit themselves to principled decision making in cases involving racial preference. (SLD)

Examines the important components of the University of Michigan's defense of its affirmative action practices and considers the significance of the upcoming lawsuit to the public debate on affirmative action in higher education. "The Compelling Need for Diversity in Higher Education," prepared by experts in defense of the university's…

Offers evidence that, although blacks were making limited progress in higher education before and immediately after the civil-rights legislation of the 1960s, significant progress did not occur until the late 1960s and later after strong affirmative-action admissions programs were in place. (SLD)

Education has long been the focal point for the debate over black claims to a special relationship with American society. Some recent works dealing with the situation of blacks in American society and education are reviewed in the context of current concerns with multiculturalism. Among the issues considered is that of affirmative action in higher…

Explains how the statistical technique of multiple regression allows a sophisticated, objective analysis of employee compensation with consideration given to the cumulative effects and interaction of legitimate personnel considerations and to discriminatory variables. (Author/IRT)

Recent litigation attacking affirmative action illustrates the need for competitive college admissions programs that avoid quota systems. The "Hopwood" decision overstepped its authority by rejecting Justice Powell's opinion in "Bakke." College admission programs must defend the use of racial consciousness by separating…

Reviews key 1997 judicial decisions relating to Title IX gender discrimination claims by students in higher education, decisions concerning California's Proposition 209 (designed to end "preferences" in education and other contexts), and the "McDonnell Douglas" burden-shifting framework for disparate race claims in the…

Eliminating the Scholastic Aptitude Test for college admissions might seem a form of covert affirmative action. Although it is possible to design a workable admissions policy that excludes standardized tests (as 15 percent of colleges have done), banishing admissions tests to further a social-policy goal indirectly is unsound policy. (Contains 25…

It's not clear how supportive African Americans are of racial preferences. Supporters of preferences like to use the term "affirmative action," which is supported by most African Americans, but it is not the same thing. The old forms of affirmative action--positive, proactive measures to end discrimination, and aggressive outreach and recruiting…