The utilization of race in affirmative action policies in higher education has been a topic of contention for several decades now. Since the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we have seen some of the most heated debates over the fairness of affirmative action and the impacts on society the utilization of race creates. With such pending questions on fairness and of the constitutionality of affirmative action policies two major Supreme Court cases have arisen, University of California Regents v. Bakke and Grutter v. Bollinger, both impacting university admissions policies throughout the country and setting precedent in following rulings. Following the two rulings of these cases, I argue that affirmative action and the utilization of race as a positive factor is desperately needed in higher education. With the changing demographics and the rise of new national needs, the racial diversity created by such policies are vital to the growth and productivity of the nation. Diversity created by race conscious policies allows for educational benefits that cannot be obtained by any other means while it also provides a new class of professionals that serve the needs of many communities, needs that will not be met without the continuous education of minorities in graduate and professional schools. Answering the questions of whether affirmative action produces diversity and whether affirmative action is still constitutional in today's society are my main objectives in this paper. I will utilize the cases of Bakke, Grutter, and Fisher, literature on the history of affirmative action in college admissions and its effects, as well as statistical analysis of admissions rates throughout the years to answer these two questions.
Movements for ...
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...SCOhost (accessed March 31, 2014).
Richman, Ashlee. "The End of Affirmative Action in Higher Education: Twenty-Five Years in the Making?." Depaul Journal for Social Justice 4, no. 1 (Fall2010): 61-96. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 31, 2014).
Primary Sources
Epps, Garrett, “Conservative Justices Prepare to 'Gut' Affirmative Action”. Oct. 11, 2012. The Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/conservative-justices- prepare-to-gut-affirmative-action/263494/ (Accessed Feb. 2014)
Fisher v. University of Texas, 570 U.S. ___ (2013)
Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003)
NPR, “What Happens Without Affirmative Action.” June 23, 2013. NPR. http://www.npr.org/2013/06/23/194656555/what-happens-without-affirmative-action- the-story-of-ucla (Accessed Feb. 2014)
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
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