Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 3/21/08 Section: News

An activist group plans to take its fight to overturn Michigan's 2006 Proposal 2 referendum to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

U.S. District Court Judge David Lawson on Wednesday dismissed the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action's appeal, which challenged the initiative that banned race and gender affirmative action in public universities, hirings in the public school system and contracting.

George Washington, an attorney representing the coalition, said he has processed the paperwork to appeal to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"We'll take it to the Supreme Court if necessary," Washington said.

Michigan voters approved Proposal 2 in November 2006 by a 58 percent to 42 percent vote.

Betty Wagner, director of admissions, said the admission process hasn't been affected by Proposal 2.

"It's changed how we're able to purchase ACT scores," she said. "Proposal 2 made it illegal to do so."

Instead of using minority affiliations that students put on their ACT scores, Wagner said the Office of Admissions now uses locations, such as ZIP codes, to send mailings to prospective minority students. She said CMU sends these mailings to more populated cities like Detroit, Flint and Kalamazoo.

"Some of our marketing is by ZIP code and areas of the state," she said.

The effects of losing affirmative action have been seen in other states, Washington said.

In 1997, California removed affirmative action from its public university admissions, and the results have been terrible, he said.

Although the undergraduate programs have not been strongly affected, graduate schools have seen the biggest impact, Washington said.

"In Michigan, the first-year response at law and medical schools, there were big drops," he said.

Minority Student Services Assistant Director Shawn Wilson said the university will have to be patient to understand the effects of Proposal 2.

"It's one of those things we'll have to wait and see (on)," he said. "We have to let time pass before we can find that out."

Washington said it can take up to a year before the case is heard before the circuit court.

Although admissions has not changed the process in which students are accepted, Wagner said the standard for admissions has continued to stay academically focused.

"We've intensified how students have been admitted," she said. "We're a selective school, but not a highly-selective school."

Denise Green, associate vice president for institutional diversity, could not be reached for comment.

Wilson said even though he does not have extensive knowledge of Proposal 2, the standards for admission should be based on student achievement, not race and gender.

"We don't make our decision based on race or gender," he said. "If minority enrollment has gone down ... how do we know it's from the effect of Proposal 2?"


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