Diversity Resources
This section provides links to related websites, studies, reports, articles court documents and news about diversity.
Contents
» American Bar Association Speaks Out (2006)
» Reconsidering the LSAT
» The Pipeline Problem
» Affirmative Action
» The Affirmative Action Cases
» Voluntary Integration Cases
ABA
Related Article:
American Bar Association Speaks Out
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(adopted by House of Delegates in August 2006)
There is no one single cause that leads to the disparities in representation of diverse groups in higher education. There is also no simple solution. The following links address the Pipeline Problem, the Fear Factor and the LSAT Problem.
Reconsidering the LSAT
Related Articles:
- Identification, Development, and Validation of Predictors for Successful Lawyering
by Profs. Marjorie M. Shultz and Sheldon Zedeck, 2008
- Full Study
Executive Summary
requires Adobe Reader- St. John’s Law Review Winter 2006
Misuse and Abuse of the LSAT: Making the Case for Alternative Evaluative Efforts and a Redefinition of Merit
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by Phoebe A. Haddon and Deborah W. PostLSA Practices
requires Adobe Reader- LSAC Calls For Schools To Reassess Use Of LSAT
SALT on the LSAT (2003)
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The Pipeline Problem
A large factor contributing to the lack of diversity in higher education in general, and in the law school context in particular, is the shortage of qualified minority high school graduates applying to four-year universities. This is often referred to as the “Pipeline Problem.” The issue has been summarized thusly: “To the extent that lower college attendance by black and Hispanic students is attributable to lower college readiness rates, it cannot be attributed to insufficient financial aid or inadequate affirmative action policies.”
Related Article:
The Next Generation: Can law firms help these kids make it to law school? from Minority Law Journal, Fall 2006
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Affirmative Action
Related Articles:
- The Civil Rights Project at Harvard
- Focus on Affirmative Action, A Project of the African American Policy Forum
13 Myths About Affirmative Action: A Special Series on a Public Policy Under Siege:- Washington Post Special Report on Affirmative Action
- Affirmative Action Timeline
- University of Michigan’s Undergraduate Admissions Point System
- The African American Policy Forum March 27-28 Affirmative Action Conference
(transcripts from 2003)- FairChance
- The History of Affirmative Action Policies
The Affirmative Action Cases
Related Articles:
- NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc | University of Michigan Affirmative Action
From Bakke to Grutter and Gratz by Katherine C. Naff
requires Adobe Reader- Bakke Amicus Briefs
- University of Michigan Admissions Lawsuits Websites
- Articles related to the Amicus Briefs:
Attaining a diverse student body is at the heart of the Law School’s proper institutional mission
“Attaining a diverse student body is at the heart of the Law School’s proper institutional mission, and its “good faith” is “presumed” absent “a showing to the contrary.” Id., at 318-319, 57 L Ed 2d 750, 98 S Ct 2733. Enrolling a “critical mass” of minority students simply to assure some specified percentage of a particular group merely because of its race or ethnic origin would be patently unconstitutional. E.g., id., at 307, 57 L Ed 2d 750, 98 S Ct 2733. But the Law School defines its critical mass concept by reference to the substantial, important, and laudable educational benefits that diversity is designed to produce, including cross-racial understanding and the breaking down of racial stereotypes. The Law School’s claim is further bolstered by numerous expert studies and reports showing that such diversity promotes learning outcomes and better prepares students for an increasingly diverse workforce, for society, and for the legal profession. Major American businesses have made clear that the skills needed in today’s increasingly global marketplace can only be developed through exposure to widely diverse people, cultures, ideas, and viewpoints.
High-ranking retired officers and civilian military leaders assert that a highly qualified, racially diverse officer corps is essential to national security. Moreover, because universities, and in particular, law schools, represent the training ground for a large number of the Nation’s leaders, Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629, 634, 94 L. Ed. 1114, 70 S. Ct. 848, the path to leadership must be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity. Thus, the Law School has a compelling interest [***322] in attaining a diverse student body.”
Voluntary Integration Cases
Recent Related News and Cases
- NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
Threatening Brown: Supreme Court Challenges to Voluntary Integration CasesSocial Science Statement for Voluntary Integration Cases
requires Adobe Reader- Voluntary School Integration under Threat
- The Century Foundation Event
The Future of School Integration: Race, Class and the U.S. Supreme Court
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transcript November 2006Argument Transcript
requires Adobe ReaderArgument Transcript Meredith v. Jefferson
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