Tag Archives: affirmative action

Minority losses at universities since Florida ended affirmative action

Orlando Sentinel: 10 years in, ‘One Florida’ posts mixed results for minorities at universities

Then-Gov. Jeb Bush pushed plan as ‘race-neutral’ replacement for affirmative action

Ten years after Florida banned affirmative-action admissions, minority enrollment in the State University System hasn’t kept pace with the number of minorities graduating from high school, an Orlando Sentinel analysis has found.

In 1999, a bit more than 20 percent of the state’s high-school graduates were black, as were 17.5 percent of university freshmen. By 2008, the last year for which a racial breakdown is available, blacks accounted for 19.5 percent of high-school graduates — but only 14.9 percent of university freshmen.

Similarly, in 1999, Hispanics made up 14.7 percent of high-school graduates and 13.8 percent of university freshmen. By 2008, Hispanics were 21.4 percent of graduates and 19.1 percent of the freshmen class, a wider gap.

By contrast, white and Asian students were overrepresented among college freshmen in 1999 — and still were in 2008, according to the Sentinel’s analysis. For example, white students comprised roughly 60 percent of high-school graduates and university freshmen in 1999; by 2008, they were 54 percent of high-school graduates — and 58 percent of university freshmen.

Judge Denies Affirmative-Action Researchers Access to California Bar Association Data

The Chronicle: Judge Denies Affirmative-Action Researchers Access to California Bar Association Data

A California state judge has rejected a bid by two researchers examining affirmative action to gain access to California Bar Association data on the long-term success of law-school graduates.

Judge Curtis E.A. Karnow of the California Superior Court for San Francisco County ruled last week that the state bar is not legally obliged to release the data sought by Richard H. Sander, a professor of law at the University of California at Los Angeles, and Joe Hicks, a former governor of the California state bar who is involved in a consortium of affirmative-action researchers organized by Mr. Sander. The two men were joined by the California First Amendment Coalition in their lawsuit, which seeks state-bar data on law students broken down by race and ethnicity

Sandra Day O’Connor Revisits and Revives Affirmative-Action Controversy

The Chronicle: Sandra Day O’Connor Revisits and Revives Affirmative-Action Controversy

Having held in a landmark 2003 Supreme Court ruling that diverse college enrollments have proven educational benefits but that colleges should not need race-conscious admissions policies 25 years down the road, a retired associate justice — Sandra Day O’Connor — is now singing what some hear as a different tune.

Sweden to abolish gender-based affirmative action at universities

Javno: Sweden to abolish affirmative action

The Swedish government said Tuesday it would abolish affirmative action at universities since the practice has resulted in unjust advantage.

STOCKHOLM, January 12, 2010 (AFP) – The Swedish government said Tuesday it would abolish affirmative action at universities since the practice has resulted in male students being given admissions priority for several popular programmes.

“The education system should open doors — not slam them in the face of motivated young women,” Higher Education Minister Tobias Krantz wrote in an article in Sweden’s leading daily Dagens Nyheter.

Arizona Lawmakers Agree to Put on Ballot a Proposed Ban on Affirmative-Action Preferences

The Chronicle News Blog: Arizona Lawmakers Agree to Put on Ballot a Proposed Ban on Affirmative-Action Preferences

Arizona is set to become the first state in which a proposed ban on affirmative-action preferences will be put on the ballot by the legislature, rather than through petitions submitted by voters.

Poll: Most Say Abolish Affirmative Action

Quinnipiac University Polling Institute: Most Say Abolish Affirmative Action

American voters say 55 – 36 percent that affirmative action should be abolished, and disagree 71 – 19 percent with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s ruling in the New Haven firefighters’ case, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

California Attorney General Says Anti-Affirmative Action Measure Is Unconstitutional

The Chronicle News Blog: California Attorney General Says Anti-Affirmative Action Measure Is Unconstitutional

San Francisco — A landmark ballot measure banning affirmative action in public hiring, contracting, and college admissions, approved by California voters in 1996, violates the U.S. Constitution’s equal-protection guarantees, Attorney General Jerry Brown said on Wednesday in a letter to the state’s Supreme Court.