Free Republic

Jaguars cornerback Dwayne Gratz’s first trip to Miami ended with a visit to jail. Gratz was arrested at 5:53 a.m. Sunday by the Miami Beach Police Department following a disturbance and was cited for disorderly intoxication and trespassing. Police were called when a store employee balked at Gratz’s request to pay for his items with bubble gum instead of money.

Jennifer Gratz is a model of diversity. The daughter of a policeman and a secretary in Southfield, Mich., she was the first person in her family to apply to college, sporting a résumé that included a 3.8 grade point average, 25 ACT score, and membership in the National Honor Society and student council. She was class vice president. Yet she was denied admission to the University of Michigan because racial preferences stacked the deck against her and her white, Asian, Indian, and Jewish peers by granting 20 points to black or Latino students, on an 80-point scale; a perfect standardized...

A Residential College class titled "Race and University Admissions" will be taking a closer look at two 2003 U.S. Supreme Court cases regarding the University's race-conscious admissions process this fall. The mini-course will concentrate on the plaintiffs' position that race-based admissions are unjust. Grutter v. Bollinger challenged the Law School's race-conscious admissions system, which was upheld, while Gratz v. Bollinger managed to strike down the point-based affirmative action system that the College of Literature, Science and Arts employed. Philosophy Prof. Carl Cohen, an outspoken critic of the University's race-conscious admissions policies and affirmative action in general, will be teaching the...

September Affirmative Action Panel at U-M Reveals First Amendment Problems with "New" Policy in Wake of Grutter and Gratz Decisions. Essays must be "risky but not too risky," scientist intentionally witheld contrary regression data. by Chetly Zarko On September 17, 2003 a public panel discussion was convened by the University of Michigan administration. The panel participants, all University administrators or researchers who have taken public positions in favor of race preferences. They made various statements that call into question the real nature of change, first amendment questions related to the weighting of the new essays, and previous statements by the...

Last week the Washington Times tipped us; White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, responded with a "we're-still-thinkin'-about-it" non-denial; Ward Connerly wrote a say-it-ain't so letter to Karl Rove; the Associated Press reported that President Bush was leaning the other way; and the clocked ticked relentlessly toward the Thursday deadline. The deadline is for the Bush administration to file an amicus brief in the two University of Michigan "diversity" cases that the Supreme Court will consider this term. As it happens, the northeast is in the midst of a cold spell. The sparrows and wrens are puffed up against the chill; the...