WASHINGTON -- President Bill Clinton thanked the American Council on Education (ACE) during the organization's annual meeting late last month. The occasion marked the third time Clinton has addressed ACE, the premier voice of higher education, since he took office in 1992.

Clinton thanked ACE for passing a resolution supporting his education initiative and said the plan is his way of enabling the federal government to create the conditions necessary to give all Americans the opportunity to realize their dreams and build strong lives and families.'

"College means opportunity for tomorrow." Clinton said. Creating that opportunity is our responsibility today." He also encouraged the ACE members to embrace the nation's diversity as an asset, not "It is a godsend to be the world's most multicultural nation," he said.

The last day of the conference featured two sessions on affirmative action. The first, chaired by University of Maryland-Eastern Shore President Dr. Delores R. Spikes, explored the aftermath of the Hopwood Texas and Proposition 209. Hopwood, as the case is known, was a U.S. Fifth Circuit case which determined that race could not be used as a factor in admissions at the University of Texas Austin law school. Proposition 209 was a referendum passed by voters in California that bans the use of affirmative action.

Panelists included: Barbara Bader Aldave. dean of Mary's University School of Law in Texas Norma V. Cantu, assistant secretary of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education; Dennis J. Galligani, assistant vice president of the University of California and William R. Yeomans, deputy assistant attorney general of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Cantu told the audience that in spite of Hopwood, which only affects Texas, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) considers Bakke; the law of the land. The Bakke case, decided by the Supreme Court allows race to he used as one factor in admissions decisions.

Cantu said that the Office of Civil Rights is searching for research partners on several projects including a study of race-based scholarships. According Yeomans, the Justice Department is actively looking for opportunities to appeal Hopwood and invited those present to contact hits agency if they are familiar with an;case that might provide just such an opportunity.