S. Res. 23
Whereas racial and ethnic diversity has far-reaching
benefits for all students, nonminorities and minorities
alike;
Whereas racial and ethnic diversity increases the range of
ideas and perspectives raised in the classroom, generates
complex thinking, and prepares students to become
participants in a pluralistic democratic society;
Whereas racial and ethnic diversity has a positive effect
on students' intellectual and personal development because
such diversity causes students to challenge stereotypes,
broaden perspectives, and sharpen critical thinking skills;
Whereas a study done in 2000 by the American College on
Education and the American Association of University
Professors found that students and faculty believe that
having multiracial and multiethnic student populations has a
positive effect on students' cognitive and personal
development;
Whereas in 1955, 1 year after the Supreme Court decided
Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), less than 5
percent of college students in the United States were
African-American;
Whereas by 1990, because of affirmative action and other
initiatives, over 11 percent of college students in the
United States were African-American;
Whereas after the United States Court of Appeals for the
Fifth Circuit ruled, in Hopwood v. Texas, 78 F.3d 932 (5th
Cir. 1996), that the University of Texas Law School's
affirmative action program was unconstitutional, Latino and
African-American admissions to the law school plummeted by 64
percent and 88 percent, respectively;
Whereas after California's anti-affirmative action measure,
Proposition 209, took affect, law school admissions dropped
nearly 72 percent among African-American applicants and 35
percent among Latino applicants;
Whereas, even with affirmative action measures there
continues to be significant racial disparities between the
enrollment rates of minority students and white students;
Whereas in 1978, in Regents of University of California v.
Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978), the Supreme Court ruled that
campus diversity is a ``compelling governmental interest''
that justifies race and ethnicity as one of many factors that
a university may consider in developing a diverse student
body;
Whereas the admissions policy of the University of Michigan
adheres to the standards set out in the landmark Bakke
decision;
Whereas the University of Michigan does not have racial
quotas for admission, and instead uses many factors to select
students, including race, social and economic background,
geographic origin, athletic ability, and a relationship to
alumni, as well as test scores, grades, and essay scores;
Whereas all of those factors help the University of
Michigan select a diverse well-rounded student body that is
not just racially diverse, but economically and
geographically diverse; and
Whereas the University of Michigan's admissions policy so
far has been upheld as constitutional by the United States
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in the case of
Grutter v. Bollinger, 288 F.3d 732 (6th Cir. 2002): Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, that the Senate--
- strongly supports the decision of the United States
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in the case of
Grutter v. Bollinger; and
- authorizes and instructs the Senate Legal Counsel to
appear as amicus curiae in that case, in the name of the
Senate, to defend the constitutionality of the University of
Michigan's admissions policy to ensure a diverse student
body.
January 17, 2003