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Remarks by the President on the Michigan Affirmative Action Case
The White House ^ | 15 January | President George W. Bush

Posted on 01/15/2003 2:03:50 PM PST by PhiKapMom

Remarks by the President on the Michigan Affirmative Action Case

The Roosevelt Room

4:30 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. The Supreme Court will soon hear arguments in a case about admission policies and student diversity in public universities. I strongly support diversity of all kinds, including racial diversity in higher education. But the method used by the University of Michigan to achieve this important goal is fundamentally flawed.

At their core, the Michigan policies amount to a quota system that unfairly rewards or penalizes perspective students, based solely on their race. So, tomorrow my administration will file a brief with the court arguing that the University of Michigan's admissions policies, which award students a significant number of extra points based solely on their race, and establishes numerical targets for incoming minority students, are unconstitutional.

Our Constitution makes it clear that people of all races must be treated equally under the law. Yet we know that our society has not fully achieved that ideal. Racial prejudice is a reality in America. It hurts many of our citizens. As a nation, as a government, as individuals, we must be vigilant in responding to prejudice wherever we find it. Yet, as we work to address the wrong of racial prejudice, we must not use means that create another wrong, and thus perpetuate our divisions.

America is a diverse country, racially, economically, and ethnically. And our institutions of higher education should reflect our diversity. A college education should teach respect and understanding and goodwill. And these values are strengthened when students live and learn with people from many backgrounds. Yet quota systems that use race to include or exclude people from higher education and the opportunities it offers are divisive, unfair and impossible to square with the Constitution.

In the programs under review by the Supreme Court, the University of Michigan has established an admissions process based on race. At the undergraduate level, African American students and some Hispanic students and Native American students receive 20 points out of a maximum of 150, not because of any academic achievement or life experience, but solely because they are African American, Hispanic or Native American.

To put this in perspective, a perfect SAT score is worth only 12 points in the Michigan system. Students who accumulate 100 points are generally admitted, so those 20 points awarded solely based on race are often the decisive factor.

At the law school, some minority students are admitted to meet percentage targets while other applicants with higher grades and better scores are passed over. This means that students are being selected or rejected based primarily on the color of their skin. The motivation for such an admissions policy may be very good, but its result is discrimination and that discrimination is wrong.

Some states are using innovative ways to diversify their student bodies. Recent history has proven that diversity can be achieved without using quotas. Systems in California and Florida and Texas have proven that by guaranteeing admissions to the top students from high schools throughout the state, including low income neighborhoods, colleges can attain broad racial diversity. In these states, race-neutral admissions policies have resulted in levels of minority attendance for incoming students that are close to, and in some instances slightly surpass, those under the old race-based approach.

We should not be satisfied with the current numbers of minorities on Americans college campuses. Much progress has been made; much more is needed. University officials have the responsibility and the obligation to make a serious, effective effort to reach out to students from all walks of life, without falling back on unconstitutional quotas. Schools should seek diversity by considering a broad range of factors in admissions, including a student's potential and life experiences.

Our government must work to make college more affordable for students who come from economically disadvantaged homes. And because we're committed to racial justice, we must make sure that America's public schools offer a quality education to every child from every background, which is the central purpose of the education reforms I signed last year.

America's long experience with the segregation we have put behind us and the racial discrimination we still struggle to overcome requires a special effort to make real the promise of equal opportunity for all. My administration will continue to actively promote diversity and opportunity in every way that the law permits.

Thank you very much.

END 4:37 P.M. EST


TOPICS: Breaking News; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: affirmativeaccess; quotas; univofmich
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FYI!
1 posted on 01/15/2003 2:03:50 PM PST by PhiKapMom
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To: PhiKapMom
Thanks for posting this.
2 posted on 01/15/2003 2:05:49 PM PST by anniegetyourgun
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To: All
Donate to Free Republic, and Save Larry The Lobster!!!

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3 posted on 01/15/2003 2:05:56 PM PST by Support Free Republic (Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)
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To: rdb3; Khepera; elwoodp; MAKnight; condolinda; mafree; Trueblackman; FRlurker; Teacher317; ...
Recent history has proven that diversity can be achieved without using quotas.

That's part of why we elected him our President, and I'm proud of it!

Black conservative ping

If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)

Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.

4 posted on 01/15/2003 2:06:24 PM PST by mhking
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To: PhiKapMom
Thanks for this post and thanks to President Bush the Greatest President in History!
5 posted on 01/15/2003 2:07:06 PM PST by TLBSHOW (Free Republic The #1 Stickest site on the web where the hardest part is clicking away...........)
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To: TLBSHOW
Thanks for this post and thanks to President Bush the Greatest President in History!

To: Poohbah


Prove to me Bush isn't a liberal Republican advancing the commie rats agenda?

162 posted on 12/20/2002 11:23 PM EST by TLBSHOW

6 posted on 01/15/2003 2:09:55 PM PST by Howlin
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To: Henrietta
Ping
7 posted on 01/15/2003 2:10:12 PM PST by Atlas Sneezed
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To: PhiKapMom
"Schools should seek diversity by considering a broad range of factors in admissions, including a student's potential and life experiences."

Oh, Great.
Statements like this if in the Brief will muddy the water further. Because universities want to keep on doing the same racial discrimination they have been doing they will then just adopt "racially neutral life experiences" tests to achieve "diversity"

Extra points on admission to be given for :
knowledge of music- sample question-Compare and Contrast East Coast and West Coast Rap "artists"

Knowledge of marketing- "Rank in price order fifteen models of Nike footwear"

Modern language- "Write a sentence in Ebonics"

Then years from now the then President will be hemmed in in future Supreme Court Cases attacking this racial discrimination- "Yo Bro, the Court gave what Pres Bush asked for."
8 posted on 01/15/2003 2:10:17 PM PST by APBaer
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To: PhiKapMom
When I read this:

Our government must work to make college more affordable for students who come from economically disadvantaged homes. And because we're committed to racial justice, we must make sure that America's public schools offer a quality education to every child from every background, which is the central purpose of the education reforms I signed last year.

I see this:

Government must continue to market itself as the sole solution for society's problems and we must continue to offer federal scholarships, paid for by overtaxed high income earners, to children from families who choose not to encourage their children to study hard to get academic scholarships. We must continue to kowtow to the NEA so that government schools will never improve the quality of education for our most precious thing in life, our children. We must continue to make sure that America's government indoctrination centers continue to push the propaganda to our children, when they are most vulnerable, which is why I decided to sign the bloating education reform package cleverly disguised as "Leave no Child Behind".

9 posted on 01/15/2003 2:12:17 PM PST by xrp
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To: PhiKapMom
Thanks for posting... Look for disenchantment with some of the words he chose to use. It's almost impossible to please all...... But this is a good start in getting away from full blown quotas...
10 posted on 01/15/2003 2:12:23 PM PST by deport (DONATE A DOLLAR OR TWO TO THE FUNDRAISER)
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To: APBaer

Care for some?

11 posted on 01/15/2003 2:12:53 PM PST by hchutch ("Last suckers crossed, Syndicate shot'em up" - Ice-T, "I'm Your Pusher")
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To: mhking
Yay! The country takes a turn in the right (no pun intended) direction.
12 posted on 01/15/2003 2:13:18 PM PST by Bahbah
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To: anniegetyourgun
Jack Nasser (Ford ex-CEO) also used a quota system to promote diversity within the ranks, which resulted in at least a couple of age discrimination suits and, finally, contributed to Mr. Nasser's demise. Forced diversity (i.e. not spontaneous) IS about discrimination. A few middle-aged, white male mechanical engineers will vouch for that.
13 posted on 01/15/2003 2:14:24 PM PST by fivecatsandadog
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To: PhiKapMom; All
CLICK HERE

This is a poll question asking if race should be used by colleges for admission. Please vote.

14 posted on 01/15/2003 2:14:46 PM PST by Wait4Truth (I HATE THE MEDIA!!!)
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To: deport
That's what I figure too! This is a large step in getting away from quotas! Cannot please all of the people all the time! Some on here he cannot please any of the time!
15 posted on 01/15/2003 2:15:14 PM PST by PhiKapMom (Bush/Cheney 2004)
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To: PhiKapMom
This is big, IMHO. Bush came out pretty strong - it's going to tick off Jackson and Sharpton.

The timing is interesting - this is the actual birthdate of Dr. King. I wonder if they WANT Sharpton, Jackson, Mfume, and others to attack him on these grounds. If so, then Dr. King's own words can be turned back at them.
16 posted on 01/15/2003 2:16:54 PM PST by hchutch ("Last suckers crossed, Syndicate shot'em up" - Ice-T, "I'm Your Pusher")
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To: PhiKapMom
Pretty fair speech....

17 posted on 01/15/2003 2:17:31 PM PST by wardaddy
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To: PhiKapMom; ohioWfan
And here is Bush's speech on this Michigan case, ohioWfan. Boy, he sure doesn't beat around the bush on this one. Gets right to the point.

Excellent.

18 posted on 01/15/2003 2:18:53 PM PST by ThePythonicCow (Mooo !!!)
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To: Wait4Truth
Should colleges consider race as a factor for admission?
* 15877 responses
Yes 18%
No 82%
19 posted on 01/15/2003 2:19:02 PM PST by Smile-n-Win
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To: Howlin
Great work in exposing TLBSHOW's hypocracy and distrust of our President. I am sick and tired of his crap. He is the single biggest knee-jerk whiner on FR, IMHO.
20 posted on 01/15/2003 2:19:35 PM PST by SunStar (Democrats Piss Me Off !!)
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