Race-Based Policies Challenged

Two influential advocacy groups that oppose affirmative action have threatened at least 20 universities around the country with legal action unless they revamp enrichment programs or other initiatives aimed exclusively at black, Latino and Native American students.

The two groups, which contend such programs violate civil rights standards, expanded their campaign into a national effort after scoring a pair of victories in recent weeks.

Under pressure from a federal investigation triggered by a complaint filed by the two groups, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology decided to overhaul two summer programs geared to youths who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups. Princeton University, which received a warning letter from the two groups, said it would either revamp or scrap a program for such undergraduates.

One of the advocacy groups, the Sacramento-based American Civil Rights Institute, was started by University of California Regent Ward Connerly. He was the architect of Proposition 209, a ballot measure opposing affirmative action that passed in 1996.

The other organization is the Center for Equal Opportunity, based in Sterling, Va. It is headed by Linda Chavez, a civil rights commissioner in the Reagan administration and a conservative activist who was nominated to be Labor secretary in the current Bush administration but withdrew after it was revealed she allowed an illegal immigrant to live in her house.

Representatives of both groups said they have sent warning letters to the 20 or so schools they believe are violating civil rights standards by excluding whites or Asian Americans in specified programs. The organizations threaten to file complaints with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights if programs in question are not overhauled.

The advocacy groups, whose plans for a national campaign were disclosed in Thursday’s Chronicle of Higher Education, said they have not sent letters to any California schools.

Edward J. Blum, director of legal affairs for the American Civil Rights Institute, said the aim is for universities “not to end these summer enrichment programs, or to end fellowships that are designed for disadvantaged students, but rather to open them up to individuals based on their need, their qualifications and their merit, as opposed to their skin color or ethnicity.”

The campaign’s prospects depend somewhat on the outcome of two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court involving affirmative-action admissions programs at the University of Michigan. Some legal experts said that if the high court substantially narrows the ability of colleges and universities to take race into account in admissions decisions, it could restrict the use of race in the administration of other campus programs too.

Sheldon E. Steinbach, general counsel for the American Council on Education, said he would advise most universities receiving warning letters from the two advocacy groups to hold off overhauling programs until the Supreme Court renders its decision, which is expected in June.

“It could affect financial aid and a whole host of other race-specific scholarships and other special programs,” Steinbach said.

MIT was under investigation by the Department of Education after the advocacy groups filed a complaint. The two programs under scrutiny were Project Interphase, intended to help freshmen adjust to college life, and the Minority Introduction to Engineering, Entrepreneurship, and Science, which enrolled high school students, mainly between their junior and senior years. Both programs were open only to black, Latino or Native American applicants, and each enrolled about 60 students annually.

MIT dropped its restrictive admissions policy for the programs. For its part, Princeton said in early February that it has decided to either scrap or overhaul its Woodrow Wilson Junior Summer Institute, which accepted only students who were members of racial and ethnic minority groups.

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Times staff writer Rebecca Trounson contributed to this report.