Colleges Prepare for Possible End to Affirmative Action
Interest in alternatives to race-conscious admissions high at Quality Education for Minorities conference
By Cheryl D. Fields

WASHINGTON

With the U.S. Supreme Court's hearing of arguments in the University of Michigan's affirmative action cases only weeks away, the tone of the annual Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) conference held here last month was one of resigned preparation for a ruling that could end the legal use of affirmative action at U.S. colleges and universities.

"This is a time for new approaches," said Daniel W. Sutherland, chief of staff to the assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education. Sutherland and co-panelist Dr. Kevin Leicht, a professor of sociology at the University of Iowa, gave presentations on the variety and efficacy of race-neutral strategies currently in use around the country.

Interest in alternatives to affirmative action was high among this mostly African American audience of professionals working in the science, mathematics and engineering wings of postsecondary education. Even with affirmative action, Black students have been grossly underrepresented in these fields. If affirmative action is off the table, the situation has the potential to grow significantly worse.

Citing President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" campaign, Sutherland said the Department of Education is eager to identify new ways of extending educational opportunity to those who have historically had limited access. The class-rank approaches used in California, Florida and Texas, and socio-economic approaches that give poor students an edge in the admissions process, were presented as examples of alternatives that can be used by campus admissions officials. The jury is still out, however, on whether these approaches can yield significant numbers of African American students at the most selective institutions.