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Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
1401 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005

For Immediate Release
Contact: Diane Gross
202-662-8600

June 23 , 2003

Lawyers’ Committee Applauds the Supreme Court Decision Upholding Affirmative Action

Washington D.C. – Today, the Supreme Court of the United States has affirmed the importance of affirmative action in higher education in two of the most significant civil rights cases of the last fifty years – Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger. Despite the Court’s overturning of the specific point system in the University of Michigan’s undergraduate admissions program, the Lawyers’ Committee welcomes the decision of the Court’s majority adopting the precedent set in Bakke, which allows the consideration of race as a factor in admissions policies and acknowledges the importance of diversity in overcoming our nation’s history of discrimination.

In these two cases, the Court has helped to secure the progress we have made in civil rights over the last 50 years, by recognizing that affirmative action ensures inclusion and equal opportunity for historically disadvantaged communities. When people take steps to ensure diversity in higher education (as in the workplace and elsewhere), they not only help to afford full societal participation previously denied to women, minorities, and other underrepresented communities; they also affirm for all members of society the value of that diversity and of the contributions that different members of society can make to it. As America becomes a more diverse nation, it is imperative that our schools, businesses, hospitals and courtrooms are enabled to reflect that diversity.

“This decision strengthens our national commitment to diversity in higher education,” stated Barbara R. Arnwine, Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee. “By affirming diversity as a compelling government interest, the Supreme Court acknowledges the importance of racial diversity in the classroom and its impact on aspects of American society,” she added.

“Today we celebrate a victory as colleges and universities around our nation can continue to use a variety of factors, including race to foster a diverse class room and student body,” said Stuart Meiklejohn, Co-Chair of the Lawyers’ Committee. “The Supreme Court decision today, while not supporting the specific program at the University of Michigan, still allows the doors of equal opportunity to be open for thousands of students of color,” he added.

The University of Michigan’s affirmative action programs are only one type of program; colleges and universities, both pubic and private, use various factors including the race, athletic ability, legacy and extracurricular activities of applicants in selecting a diverse student body. This opinion, though striking down Michigan’s undergraduate program, preserves affirmative action as a policy that is fair and inclusive. The Lawyers’ Committee now calls on America’s colleges and universities to use the ruling to maintain and improve their admissions policies to foster diversity in their student bodies, faculty and administration.

In her majority opinion, Justice O’Connor adopted the holding of Bakke and wrote, “In summary, the Equal Protection Clause does not prohibit the Law School’s narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body.” This approach ensures that programs that use race as a factor in admissions, such as the Law School Admissions policy, are a constitutionally approved means for institutions of higher education to ensure diverse enrollment. The Court also added, “Access to legal education (and thus the legal profession) must be inclusive of talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity, so that all members of our heterogeneous society may participate in the educational institutions that provide the training and education necessary to succeed in America.”

It is critical for students to understand and appreciate people’s differences in the academic setting because that is where students develop the skills, knowledge, and relationships essential to becoming a successful member of our society. When those students graduate they can bring this experience and knowledge into the professional world to help businesses compete successfully in the global marketplace. This decision is a victory because affirmative action has now been held to be a constitutional way to achieve these objectives.

The Lawyers’ Committee is a forty year old nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights legal organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to provide legal services to address racial discrimination. The Lawyers’ Committee has through litigation and advocacy worked to protect and preserve affirmative action in higher education, employment and contracting.

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