Wednesday, July 6, 2011

DenverPost.com : Editorial: A victory for college diversity : Court: Michigan voters can't ban affirmative action - the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit says that the the referendum that voters approved had the effect of denying political rights to minority citizens in Michigan

.
DenverPost.com -
Editorial: A victory for college diversity -
We agree with a federal court ruling that overturned a Mich. ban on affirmative action, but this issue isn't going away. -
By The Denver Post -
July 6, 2011 -


Editorial: A victory for college diversity


Some excerpts :

A federal court decision last week overturning a Michigan ban on affirmative action is a victory for those who see value in considering diversity in college admissions.

It's clear that such sensitivities are important to Coloradans — who voted down a similar ban in 2008 — and to state university officials, who have been working hard to increase minority representation on their campuses.

We're hopeful the Michigan decision, which assuredly will be appealed, will withstand further scrutiny.

We have long favored the policy in Colorado allowing race and gender of applicants to be a consideration in a small portion of college admissions.

As a recent story in The Denver Post showed, that consideration is paying off in the form of much-needed college diversity. Last year, the University of Colorado enrolled 4,082 minority students — a record number. CU's student body across all campuses is 19 percent minority.

Colorado State University enrolled 1,609 low-income and ethnically diverse students in 2010. Its student population is 14 percent minority.

These schools, and others in Colorado, are working hard to recruit minority students in an effort to have lecture halls look more like the diverse place that Colorado has become, though they are not quite there yet.

Amendment 46, which was on the ballot in Colorado in 2008, would have eliminated consideration of race, gender or socioeconomic status in college admissions or awarding of government contracts. Voters rejected the measure, which was pushed by California businessman Ward Connerly , after a hard-fought campaign.

We were glad to see the initiative lose.
.

No comments:

Post a Comment