U-M’s commitment and efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion have included navigating topics, policies and issues related to highly complex and important questions, which ultimately require the guidance of the judiciary.

This section provides background information to support exploration of some of those questions and traces their progress through the legal system.


Proposal 2 (2006)

This legislation restricted the use of race- and gender-conscious approaches in admissions, hiring, and other functions in public institutions in the state of Michigan.

News
FAQs
Amendment Language

SCOTUS Affirmative Action Ruling (2023)

In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court revisited the question of whether race should be consider in college admissions. The court’s ruling restricted the use of particular race-conscious approaches but still allowed for the consideration of race in admissions, e.g., through consideration of applicants’ lived experience of race as challenge or inspiration. The ruling did not supersede the policies under Michigan’s Proposal 2.

Supreme Court Rulings

Related Content

U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division
Russell & Toward a Fair Michigan (TAFM) v. University of Michigan & Granholm
Cantrell (ACLU et al.) v. Granholm

Admissions Lawsuits

Admissions Lawsuits: The University of Michigan has been a leader and spotlighted nationally in debates on the value of diversity in higher education as it relates to college admissions. This site provides background information on the two lawsuits challenging University of Michigan admissions policies that were decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in June, 2003.

Other Documents

This page collects links to other legal documents and information on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion involving the University of Michigan

Amicus brief – Fisher v. U. Texas at Austin 

Same-Sex Benefits

The University of Michigan offers benefits for adult dependents who meet the requirements of the Other Qualified Adult (OQA) category. Although U-M does not offer benefits based on a domestic partnership, coverage for an adult who shares a primary residence with the U-M employee can be elected when all OQA requirements are met:

  1. The employee is eligible for U-M benefits; and
  2. The employee does not already enroll a spouse in health or other benefits; and
  3. The Other Qualified Adult, at the time of proposed enrollment, shares a primary residence with the employee and has done so for the previous 6 continuous months, other than as an employee or tenant.