Posted on 10/16/2011 5:42:48 PM PDT by reaganaut1
ABIGAIL FISHER, a white student, says she was denied admission to the University of Texas because of her race. She sued in Federal District Court in Austin, causing Judge Sam Sparks to spend time trying to make sense of a 2003 Supreme Court decision allowing racial preferences in higher education. “I’ve read it till I’m blue in the face,” Judge Sparks said in an early hearing in Ms. Fisher’s lawsuit. But the meaning of the central concept in the decision — “this esoteric critical mass of diversity of students,” he called it — kept eluding him.
The 2003 Supreme Court decision he was trying to understand, Grutter v. Bollinger, had elevated the concept of “diversity” from human-resource department jargon to constitutional stature. The pursuit of diversity, a five-justice majority said, allows admissions personnel at public universities to do what the Constitution ordinarily forbids government officials to do — to sort people by race.
Judge Sparks in the end ruled that the Grutter decision meant that Texas was allowed to take account of Ms. Fisher’s race. Now her case is hurtling toward the Supreme Court. That could provide a fresh opportunity to consider what we mean when we talk about diversity. It could also mean the end of affirmative action at public universities.
Ms. Fisher’s lawyers filed a petition seeking a Supreme Court review last month, and legal experts say the justices will probably agree to hear it, setting the stage for a decision by June. Such a decision, given changes in the membership of the court since 2003, is likely to cut back on if not eliminate the use of race in admissions decisions at public colleges and universities.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
F**K diversity!
What do you call a press whose government sets its personnel policy?
Controlled.
I'm as white as you can get, but I've done some thorough genealogical research and discovered that one of my ancestors was a pre-Revolutionary African slave in Rhode Island. I am tempted to have my daughter use this fact to her advantage in this Brave New World of racial nose counting.
1. Diversity
2. Sweet mystery of life
3. Penumbras and emanations
I would a fourth, “compelling state interest,” which in Leftist Speak means the Constitution be d@mned.
If they were a large construction company, then they probably wanted to bid on projects for government entities who would have made having a "diverse" workforce a requirement for consideration. Even projects for large companies would have probably have a question on the bid application about the racial makeup of the company (no major corporation wants heat from the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of the world about hiring "racist" construction companies)
Overnight, colleges would stop offering majors that did not lead to paying jobs (unless the student paid cash in advance), and stop accepting unqualified students.
‘But the meaning of the central concept in the decision — “this esoteric critical mass of diversity of students,” he called it — kept eluding him.’Quotas.
Anyone care to try and interpret that?
Years ago, when this crap first started, a buddy of mine was hauled before management to explain why he hired a white guy over a black guy. One lib, ever so ready to exploit “racism”, asked, since they were both equal to the job, why did he hire the white man?
He said he realized both were equally qualified, so he used his binary computer to make the decision. Lib jumped all over it, asking what kind of “binary computer” (sneering) did he use?
He took out a quarter, flipped it and said, “Heads: The guy on the left gets it; Tails: The guy on the right.” He didn’t even use “black guy/white guy”.
The lib sputtered while a couple others laughed, and that was the end of that.
Mebbe an Urban Legend, but a white college applicant checked off the "Native American" box. In the "Tribe" box he put "SoSueMe". He was accepted.
Good idea, it would certainly cull the ones who don't belong.
It would shift scholarship money away from deserving students to cover their liability, though. Most of the smaller, private colleges do this. If they didn't, no middle class kid could begin to afford to attend. It's these smaller, less prestigious schools that are serving the most talented and capable of students, the "Name brand" schools are shunning these kids in order to fill quotas. Remember the day when Rutgers University was considered Ivy league?
My daughter is in school on such an arrangement, and what we pay is within reason-- on the scale of what it cost kids to attend before the inflation bubble.
Eventually schools will close. Somebody might get a clue and establish a "bare bones" college, one that concentrates on a general core curriculum. Students would have a limited range of majors, concentrated on general disciplines: math, English, languages, history etc. Facilities would be limited to classrooms and small lecture halls; no stadiums, arenas, research facilities, architectural monuments, football teams, etc. Finding competent faculty would be easy enough.
Imagine if 90% of tuition was devoted to teaching instead of the usual ancillary crap. Costs would be within the reach of any motivated student.
“The pursuit of diversity, a five-justice majority said, allows admissions personnel at public universities to do what the Constitution ordinarily forbids government officials to do”
Leftist Supreme Court Justices—indispensable when you’re just too lazy to go through the constitutional amendment process.
Bingo!!!! We have a winner!!!!!
Yeah, that decision was a reminder of how gigantic a mistake Reagan made nominating her majesty Sandra Day O’Connor.
I doubt less fortunate whites get a leg up on anyone when it comes to university admissions.
My thinking exactly. All ‘diversity’ or ‘affirmative action’ does is allow a minority student to go to a very expensive school for which s/he must go into tremendous debt. Haven’t the Obamas talked about having only relatively recently paid off their college loans. Without this, they could have gone to an affordable state school and not been so encumbered.
In the Obama case, they’ve made up for the college debt, but there are thousands of others who are still struggling, as those Ivy League diplomas hang on the walls of heavily mortgaged homes. Big favor they were done.
College loans are too easy and accessible for students, white or minority. They make going to some prestigious university seem like a freebie to an 18 year old, but they are far from that as they find out when hitting their 30s.
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