The following statements were issued by University of Michigan leaders today (Dec. 2) in response to the Supreme Court granting cert in both affirmative action cases, Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger. President Coleman statement > V.P. and General Counsel Marvin Krislov statement > Law School Dean Jeffrey S. Lehman statement > “Clearly this is an issue of great national importance. We are looking forward to presenting our cases before the Supreme Court. This is a moment of great significance in our nation’s history. We stand at the threshold of a decision that will have a profound impact on our nation’s higher education system, and on our race relations broadly. “When the Court hears these cases in the spring, it will have the opportunity to reaffirm its landmark 1978 decision in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. Universities have relied upon that decision for the past-quarter century, and it has worked well in guiding their admissions policies. Race is among the factors considered by virtually every selective college and university in the country. “We must be able to assemble a diverse student body if we are to continue providing all students—regardless of their race—with the best possible educational environment. It is the only way we can prepare students to live and work effectively in our diverse democracy and in the global economy. What’s at stake is the quality of our American higher education system. Our universities are widely perceived as the best in the world, and their diversity is one of their outstanding strengths. “Our admissions policies have been carefully and thoughtfully designed, and are based upon a great deal of research as well as our understanding as educators of our students and their contributions to our learning community. There is no effective substitute for the consideration of race as one of many factors in our admissions process. Other methods do not allow us to recruit a diverse student body while maintaining our consistently high academic standards. “Now is not the time to turn back the clock. A ruling overturning Bakke could result in the immediate resegregation of our nation’s top universities, both public and private. It also could limit our ability to provide support to minority students through financial aid, mentoring and outreach programs. We have only to look at the impact on flagship campuses in Texas and California to see the effects that such a change in policy would bring. “Our society is more diverse today, yet more segregated along racial lines in many ways than at any time since the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. The color of your skin determines so many important things about your life experience—where you live, where you go to work, and with whom you work. Race still matters in our society. The ideal of color-blindness does not mean we can or should be blind to that reality.” “We are not surprised the Supreme Court chose to take our cases. We are ready to defend our policies before the nation’s highest court, and in fact we developed our legal cases with exactly this outcome in mind. “Our cases provide the Court with the opportunity to reaffirm Bakke and to ensure that institutions of higher education in all 50 states will have the academic freedom to take race into account in order to secure the educational benefits of a diverse student body without compromising academic selectivity. “Our cases are widely viewed as the strongest possible cases for the Court to consider on affirmative action in university admissions. We have been praised by educators and legal scholars across the country for presenting convincing evidence of the educational importance of diversity. We’ve assembled compelling research showing that learning in a diverse environment benefits all students, minority and majority alike. “In both the Law School and undergraduate admissions cases, we have already won important victories. The district court judge in Gratz and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Grutter both followed Bakke and its recognition of the educational benefits of diversity. They ruled that our policies are fair and legal under the Constitution. We believe the Supreme Court will do the same.” “Our Law School prepares a group of highly talented students for leadership in the modern legal profession. We care about both the quality of the students we admit to our school and the quality of the education we provide them. An important aspect of that education derives from vibrant and challenging interactions among students inside and outside the classroom. Thus, in deciding whether to admit an applicant to the Law School, we consider all available evidence of analytic ability and work ethic, as well as what difference an applicant’s presence in the class would likely make to the overall student experience. “We know that students who live and learn at racially integrated campuses are better prepared to be effective in the courthouses and companies of 21st-century America. We also know that American society has not yet reached the point where a rigidly colorblind admissions process will produce more than token levels of enrollment of students from some minority groups at the most selective law schools. To provide the highest quality legal education to our students, we have no choice but to employ affirmative action in admissions. “Our admissions policy reflects a cautious approach to affirmative action. It follows the guidelines established by the Supreme Court in the Bakke case 24 years ago. It is both realistic and pragmatic. That is why Secretary of State Colin Powell and former President Gerald Ford have spoken out in support of our admissions policy, as have General Motors, 3M and 30 other major corporations. “I am confident that the Supreme Court will use our case to reaffirm the balanced guidelines that have provided stability to higher education for a quarter-century. Colorblindness is an ideal, not an idol, and the Constitution does not require us to sacrifice effective education and integration at its altar.” Email: [email protected]

President Coleman statement[email protected]