A ‘Powerful Message’ on Diversity

In a record outpouring of support, more than 60 national organizations came to the defense of the University of Michigan on Tuesday, telling the Supreme Court that racial diversity has become an integral part of American life and must be preserved.

Never before had so many friend-of-the-court briefs been filed on one side of a dispute before the court, which will soon hear two cases involving undergraduate and law school admissions to the Ann Arbor campus.

At least 63 corporations, more than 100 universities, retired military leaders, labor unions, civil rights and religious groups and nearly 14,000 law students signed briefs that endorsed the continued use of race-based affirmative action.

“We want to send a powerful message to the court: Students of all races benefit from a diverse student body,” said David Fauvre, a third-year student at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington.

The stack of briefs carried at least three other messages.

First, affirmative action is not a cause just for civil rights lawyers or minority activists, but rather reflects the beliefs of a wide spectrum of the American establishment.

Second, the need for affirmative action is different than it was in the past. A quarter-century ago, when the court took up Regents of the University of California vs. Bakke -- in which a white applicant to UC Davis’ medical school claimed he was rejected only because a specific number of places were reserved for minorities -- affirmative action was described as a temporary remedy for past discrimination.

By contrast, the new briefs look to America today and in the future. They say racial diversity is a positive aspect of American life, whether in the military or at the nation’s elite colleges.

“Obviously, there is a broad and deep consensus among this nation’s major institutions: Our ability to be strong relies on our ability to seek diversity,” said Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of Michigan.

She lauded the court’s Bakke decision and urged the justices to preserve it. In a crucial opinion, Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. said in that case that colleges and universities can consider a minority student’s race as a “plus” factor to achieve a diverse class.

“We believe that the underlying principle of the Bakke decision has become an important part of our national culture,” Coleman said.

Third, however, the university’s lawyers say it is “fantasy” to believe that true racial diversity can be achieved without considering race in the admissions process.

“There are no race-neutral alternatives at this time,” Michigan’s lawyers told the court. “Overruling Bakke would force most of this Nation’s finest institutions to choose between dramatic resegregation and completely abandoning the demanding standards that have made American higher education the envy of the world.”

Other briefs use statistics to support their position.

“The raw numbers are startling,” said the Law School Admission Council. Last fall, the council noted, 4,461 law school applicants nationwide had a college grade-point average of 3.5 or above and a Law School Admission Test score of 165 or above, the usual criteria for admission to the nation’s top law schools. “Of that number, a total of just 29 were black. Only 114 were Hispanic,” the group said.

If the top schools were forced to admit students based strictly on grades and tests, “it would be mathematically impossible” for most selective law schools to have more than three black students in entering classes, the group said.

However, education leaders stressed that there are ample numbers of high-achieving minority students who have shown they can succeed if given a chance to enroll at the best universities. They say affirmative action works because it gives them a slight advantage.

Because diversity is crucial to America’s future, it is important that these opportunities be preserved, said the retired military leaders -- who included Adm. William J. Crowe Jr., Gen. Hugh Shelton and Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, all former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the commander in the Persian Gulf War -- and executives at some of the largest U.S. companies, including Microsoft Corp., Merck & Co. and Intel Corp.

“What we are seeing is the recognition in every walk of American life that we have to work together as a team. And the members of our team have a diverse background,” said Joe Reeder, a West Point graduate and a former undersecretary of the Army. “In the military, a diverse officer corps is absolutely essential when the fighting force is 40% minority.”

Last month, President Bush joined the case on the side of the three white students who sued the university and its law school.

Bush said that although he values diversity, colleges and universities must try “race-neutral” means to achieve it. He cited programs in California, Texas and Florida that grant automatic acceptance to state universities to the top graduates in the state’s public high schools.

The former military leaders say the Bush administration’s legal brief pointedly ignored the fact that the service academies for the Army, Navy and Air Force use race as a factor in admissions. If the high court were to adopt Bush’s position, the academies would be forced to sharply change their policies.

“We signed on for just that reason,” said retired Lt. Gen. Daniel Christman, a former superintendent of the Army’s academy at West Point, N.Y. “We have an enormously compelling interest in admitting a reasonably diverse class. I’ve been in an Army that was de facto segregated. In Vietnam, we had a very high percentage of minority troops and a very small number of minority officers. And huge problems ensued.

“The academy is far, far better today for having a reasonably diverse student body.”

Tuesday was the scheduled deadline for briefs to be filed in support of the university, but because the federal government was closed because of snow, the court extended the deadline until the opening of the clerk’s office today. Briefs opposing the university’s position were filed last month.

A 1989 abortion case drew what is believed to be a record 78 briefs. They were evenly divided between those who favored or opposed the right to abortion.

As of Tuesday, lawyers said they were uncertain whether the University of Michigan cases would surpass that figure. Fifteen briefs opposed to the admissions policy have been filed, while at least 61 have been filed this week in support of it.

The justices will hear two hours of argument in the cases April 1 and hand down a ruling by late June.

If the court strikes down Michigan’s use of race in admissions, the ruling would affect public universities, including the service academies, and probably private colleges as well. Because those schools receive federal funds, they are obliged to follow the anti-discrimination standards set by the Supreme Court.

However, the decision would not directly affect private firms.