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Higher Ed. Assns' Letter to President on Affirmative Action Cases
January 10, 2003
The Honorable George W. Bush Dear President Bush: The leaders of the undersigned higher education associations join me in bringing to your attention two cases before the Supreme Court that are of critical importance to public and private colleges and universities in the United States. The cases - Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger, which both involve the use of affirmative action in institutional admissions policies - will be argued before the high court this spring. Diversity is essential to the basic purposes and mission of the vast majority of institutions of higher education: to enable students to lead "the examined life"; to prepare them to maintain the robust democracy in which we live; and to prepare them to be productive participants in the national economy. Each of these aims of higher education entails breaking down barriers that isolate the student. Racial and ethnic diversity is not the only kind of diversity higher education institutions need to advance their purposes and missions, but for most it is a necessary aspect. Moreover, research findings show that the interactions diversity allows and institutional commitment to diversity are associated with success in college, growth in acceptance of people of different races, low racial tension, retention of minority students, and other educational benefits for white and minority students. American higher education is considered the best in the world because of America's long-standing tradition of government deference to educators' judgment on academic questions, such as what combination of students yields the best educational outcomes. The freedom to pursue diversity is especially worthy of protection because diversity benefits all students. For all of these reasons, we hope that your administration will support the effort to preserve diversity in higher education by filing an amicus curiae brief in support of the University of Michigan. The persuasive power of the White House could prove significant to a positive outcome before the Supreme Court. We urge you to join us in this important effort. Sincerely,
David Ward DW/cms On behalf of:
ACT, Inc.
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