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Ruling Against Use of Race in Admissions
As this issue of Academe goes to press, a federal judge has ruled unconstitutional the University of Georgia’s use of race as a factor in admissions decisions. In a strongly worded opinion issued on July 24, Judge B. Avant Edenfield of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Georgia, declared that the university’s admissions procedure amounts to "naked racial balancing." The ruling came in response to suits brought by three white women who were denied admission to the university in 1999 and who contended that they would have been admitted had they been men or members of a minority group.
In defending itself against these and similar lawsuits, the university has argued that the benefits of having a diverse student body justify its use of an index that takes race into consideration in some admissions cases. In recent years, between 85 and 90 percent of entering students have been admitted on academic criteria alone. Only in borderline cases has the university applied other criteria, such as quality of the high school attended, race, Georgia residency, parents’ education level or alumni status, and extracurricular activities.
Edenfield rejected the university’s argument, questioning both the definition and benefits of a diverse student body and criticizing the university for presuming, "stereotypically, that all members of a particular minority race will think, act, etc., differently from whites and thus ‘contribute’ to the student body’s ‘overall educational experience.’"
Opponents of affirmative action celebrated the latest ruling, but some observers say that it may have little effect on policies outside the University of Georgia. Martin Michaelson, a lawyer who advises colleges on affirmative action, told the Chronicle of Higher Education that varying federal-court decisions on colleges’ race-based policies will ultimately have to be sorted out by the U.S. Supreme Court. The University of Georgia will appeal the ruling, officials report.
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