In its recent decision to limit the use of race in assigning students to public schools, the U.S. Supreme Court justices made it clear that the earlier Grutter v Bollinger decision involving affirmative action in college admissions would stand. Gary Orfield said Monday higher education leaders should use that decision to strengthen their resolve against conservatives’ efforts to end race-conscious programs.

“The Court’s reaffirmation of the ruling in Grutter spoke directly to and repudiated the efforts of conservative groups that had urged the Court to adopt a sweeping race-blind policy that would undermine Grutter,” reads a report released yesterday by The Civil Rights Project/ Proyecto Derechos Civiles at the University of California-Los Angeles.

The report, “Charting the Future of College Affirmative Action: Legal Victories, Continuing Attacks, and New Research,” is the first to be released since the Civil Rights Project moved from Harvard University to UCLA earlier this year. In it, nearly 20 scholars weigh in with various analyses of affirmative action in higher education, including how Grutter should be interpreted

“We urge leaders of higher education to resist threats and intimidation and to expand programs to integrate higher education, programs that are more secure now with the recent 2007 decision of the reconstituted Supreme Court,” said Orfield, co-director of the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles and a professor of education at the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.

Although the court left Grutter alone, Orfield and other experts who contributed to the new report expect ongoing controversy over affirmative action in admissions and other programs, such as financial aid targeted at underserved groups.

The report can be found at:

http://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/affirmativeaction/
fullreportchartingaa.php

- Diverse Staff

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