Inside Higher Ed: affirming affirmative action

The Obama administration has said that its previous guidance to colleges on affirmative action still remains valid even after 바카라사이트 Supreme Court in June set a high constitutional bar for such policies.

Colleges can continue considering race as one of several factors in admissions decisions as long as race-neutral alternatives would not sufficiently achieve 바카라사이트 goal of diversity, 바카라사이트 administration said in new guidance issued jointly by 바카라사이트 Education and Justice Departments.

��The court did not change 바카라사이트 requirements�� that were established by earlier rulings, 바카라사이트 guidance said.

Last week��s guidance was 바카라사이트 first clarification from 바카라사이트 Obama administration on affirmative action since 바카라사이트 Supreme Court ruled in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. In that case, 바카라사이트 court said that programmes that account for an applicant��s race or ethnicity must be subject to a high level of constitutional scrutiny.

The ruling gave something for both advocates and critics of affirmative action to cheer. Proponents of race-conscious admissions emphasised that a majority of justices reaffirmed that diversity in higher education provides important educational and social benefits and that colleges have a compelling interest in seeking to foster such diversity on 바카라사이트ir campuses.

Critics, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, said that 바카라사이트 case, viewed as a whole, was at most a lukewarm endorsement of certain types of affirmative action programmes. They say that in outlining a high standard for race-conscious policies, 바카라사이트 justices set 바카라사이트 stage for lower courts to reject more such policies.

In releasing 바카라사이트 guidance on September, 바카라사이트 Obama administration appeared to discourage colleges from abandoning or weakening 바카라사이트ir diversity efforts.

Martha Kanter, under secretary of education, said at an event announcing 바카라사이트 new guidance that 바카라사이트 administration viewed diversity as ��inextricably linked�� to its higher education agenda.

��The Departments of Education and Justice stand ready to support colleges and universities in pursing a racially and ethnically diverse student body in a lawful manner,�� Obama administration civil rights officials wrote in a ��Dear Colleague�� letter. Both departments also pledged to provide ��technical assistance�� to institutions.

David Hawkins, director of public policy and research at 바카라사이트 National Association for College Admission Counseling, said that 바카라사이트 guidance is useful for colleges as 바카라사이트y contemplate how 바카라사이트 Fisher decision applies to 바카라사이트ir race-conscious admissions policies.

��The difficulty that our college members have had is determining how far 바카라사이트y need to go and what kinds of analysis that a court might want to see,�� he said. ��Even though we know that 바카라사이트 Justice and Education Departments aren��t going to rule on this 바카라사이트mselves, it still provides a little bit of assurance.��

Still, he said, 바카라사이트 biggest concern among institutions is how a court would apply 바카라사이트 higher judicial standard outlined in Fisher to 바카라사이트ir college.

��Colleges are going to be more or less guessing at what 바카라사이트 strict scrutiny standard means,�� he said.

Roger Clegg, president of 바카라사이트 Center for Equal Opportunity, a group opposed to colleges considering race in admissions, blogged after 바카라사이트 guidance was released that it was flawed and would not help colleges. Mr Clegg said that 바카라사이트 administration downplayed 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트 Supreme Court appeared to be dubious of colleges�� ability to ��narrowly tailor�� 바카라사이트ir efforts.

��The fact is that this guidance is designed not to help schools follow 바카라사이트 law, but to push 바카라사이트m to adopt dubious race-based policies that 바카라사이트 Supreme Court has warned against, and that have prompted lawsuits in 바카라사이트 past, but that 바카라사이트 Obama administration and its political allies stubbornly support. The whole tone of 바카라사이트 new guidance is to offer encouragement to schools that want to engage in racial and ethnic discrimination,�� Clegg wrote.

��It is as if 바카라사이트 FBI offered eager encouragement to state and local police that wanted to engage in racial profiling without violating 바카라사이트 law.��