Judge Asked to Stop Georgia From Using Race in Admissions
ATLANTA — University of Georgia President Dr. Michael Adams did not have to wait long for a challenge to his recent decision to keep race as a factor in deciding admissions.
Atlanta attorney Lee Parks, who has battled the university system before over race-based admission policies, asked a federal judge earlier this month to prevent the school from using racial criteria in admitting next year's freshman class.
Parks filed the motion on behalf of four women who claim they were not admitted because they are White females in connection with a suit he filed in federal court in Savannah in August. The suit claims the school's admissions practices are unconstitutional by giving preferences to Blacks.
Adams announced last month the school would continue to use race as a factor in 10 percent to 20 percent of admissions for next year's freshman class.
But state Attorney General Thurbert Baker has said the university has a slim chance of winning its case in court because of the current legal trend to prohibit racial criteria in college admissions.
"It's not the best use of public tax money," says Parks. "They've gone out now and hired a private law firm to take a case through the system that the attorney general has told them they are not going to win."
Earlier this year, U.S. District Court Judge B. Avant Edenfield scolded the university system for using racial preferences, saying the school "cannot constitutionally justify the affirmative use of race in its admission decisions."
But Edenfield did not rule the practice illegal. He dismissed the case, saying the White student suing for admission would not have gotten in even without the racial preferences.
University spokesman Tom Jackson says 80 percent to 90 percent of students are admitted based on grades and SAT scores without regard to race. Race is only one factor among others for the remaining students.
Extra consideration also was given to students whose parents graduated from the university, students from rural areas and men — who made up only 40 percent of this year's freshman class. In reaction to the lawsuits, Adams has dropped the preference for male students.
Blacks make up about 28 percent of the state population, but only 6 percent of the student body — lower than all but two of the state's public four-year colleges.
Parks contends that's proof the university is not really interested in admitting more Black students. The school, he says, gives lip service to diversity, but actually keeps out minorities. The university could admit more Blacks if it gave preference to economic, rather than racial factors, Parks says.