UM: Affirmative Action

USA Today reports on the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion, issued on Nov. 15, declaring that Michigan’s ban on affirmative action in university admissions is unconstitutional. The ban, approved by voters in a 2006 ballot initiative, had been championed by Jennifer Gratz, who had sued the University of Michigan after being denied admission. From the report: “U-M has a high stake in today’s ruling. Nearly 10 years ago, the university was involved in a landmark Supreme Court ruling governing race and universities. The high court upheld the U-M law school’s use of race as a consideration in admissions, as long as there were no quotas attached, but threw out the undergraduate admissions system that awarded extra points to African-American, Hispanic and American Indian students. Then Proposition 2 erased U-M’s court victory by banning the state’s universities and other public institutions from considering an applicant’s minority status or gender in their admissions or hiring processes.” [Source]