SAVE THE DATE: MONDAY, MARCH 24, 10:00 - 11:30 A.M.
Location: The National Press Club: Holeman Room, 529 14th St. NW, Washington, DC
SPACE IS LIMITED: RSVP by 3/18/03 to [email protected] Please put RSVP DC in caps in the subject line of your email and provide the names of your publications or programs and complete contact information.
Media Briefing on Legal Frameworks and Critical Research Findings in the University of Michigan Affirmative Action Cases Before the U.S. Supreme Court
Washington/Cambridge, MA--.Christopher Edley, Jr., Harvard Law Professor, announced today: "On April 1, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the University of Michigan admissions cases, two cases that will profoundly impact the future of affirmative action in American higher education. As the Supreme Court prepares to hear these arguments, several national organizations have joined together to offer a media briefing on the scientific findings and legal issues at stake in the Michigan cases."
National Collaborators Offer Timely Media BriefingThe American Educational Research Association (AERA), the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) and the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) are among the nation's leading associations and institutions committed to improving the quality of higher education in the United States through scholarly research, the exchange and dissemination of information, campus based and institutional reform, and public policy development. These organizations in cooperation with The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University (CRP) and Patricia Gurin, Ph.D., Nancy Cantor Distinguished University Professor and Emerita of Psychology at the University of Michigan, are offering a distinctive tutorial for journalists to aid with previews and future coverage, as these significant cases are about to unfold.
Yolanda T. Moses, Ph.D., President of AAHE voiced her concern over how these cases could alter the composition of colleges and universities nationwide: " The decisions handed down in these cases will affect access to colleges and universities for minority students for years to come. We have come too far to turn the clock back to a time of racial segregation in our institutions of higher education."
Research CountsFelice J. Levine, Ph.D., Executive Director of AERA, pointed out that research has long been recognized as crucial to sound policymaking about diversity in higher education: "Nearly fifty years ago, in Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court recognized the value of research findings when it decided that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional. Social science research continues to play a central role in assisting the courts on important questions of law, including that the promotion of educational diversity is a compelling governmental interest."
Professor Patricia Gurin, Ph.D., Nancy Cantor Distinguished University Professor, Emerita of Psychology at the University of Michigan is an expert regarding the compelling interest of diversity: "Research from many scholars shows that all students -- white and students of color alike -- are more engaged in learning and better prepared to be leaders of our increasingly diverse democracy when they interact with racially and ethnically diverse peers," said Professor Gurin.
Carol Geary Schneider, Ph.D., President of AACU stated: "Whatever the outcome, the Michigan case will be a turning point in higher education's effort to reverse the effects of racial segregation. The question is whether our most selective campuses will become predominantly white--again."
NEW Briefing Paper Summarizes Social Science Research Findings and Legal Arguments At this timely event The Civil Rights Project will release a new briefing paper. The author of this new report, Angelo Ancheta, Director of Legal and Policy Advocacy Programs at CRP and Lecturer on Law at the Harvard Law School, stated: "This new briefing paper will, in non-technical language, outline the legal arguments and review the social science research highlighted in friend of the court briefs filed by the AERA, et al., as well as other research offered in briefs by the American Psychological Association, the American Sociological Association, the National Education Association, and others." This new briefing paper will be available online under embargo on Thursday 3/20/03 at http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu the embargo will be effective until Monday March, 24 at 10:00 a.m. Bound copies of the report will be available at this event only.
EVENT DESCRIPTION: LEGAL FRAMEWORK, SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH BEHIND THE CASES, OVERVIEW OF WHAT IS AT STAKE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, AND PRACTICAL NEW BRIEFING REPORT
Event Program
Introduction Felice J. Levine, Ph.D., Executive Director of AERA
Legal FrameworksProfessor Christopher Edley, Jr, Professor of Law at Harvard University, Member, US Commission on Civil Rights, Co-Founder & Director of The Civil Rights Project: Legal Framework and Uses of Social Science Research to Assist the Supreme Court; reference to CRP briefing paper on legal framework and social science evidence
Research SummariesPatricia Gurin, Ph.D., Nancy Cantor Distinguished University Professor, Emerita of Psychology at the University of Michigan: Research Supporting the Compelling Interest in Diversity and Overview of Social Science Research that Addresses the Constitutionality of the University of Michigan's Programs.
What is at Stake for Higher Education?Yolanda T. Moses, Ph.D., President of AAHE and Carol Geary Schneider, Ph.D., President of AACU:Overview of How Sound Public Policy Practices Impact Our Nation's Campuses.
New Briefing Paper and SummationAngelo Ancheta, Lecturer on Law at the Harvard Law School, Director of Legal and Policy Programs at The Civil Rights Project: Discussion of New Briefing Paper and Summation of Event.
Q & A and Availability Session Moderated by Felice J. Levine, Ph.D., and Professor Christopher Edley, Jr.
Attorneys/PanelistsThe attorneys for the amici curiae are Angelo N. Ancheta (Counsel of Record), Lecturer on Law at the Harvard Law School, and Christopher Edley, Jr., Professor of Law at the Harvard Law School. (The views expressed in these briefs do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Harvard Law School or of Harvard University.)
Amici Curiae Briefs The American Educational Research Association (AERA), the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) and the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE), have filed amici curiae briefs supporting the University of Michigan in its efforts to diversify its undergraduate and law schools through race-conscious admissions. Prepared on their behalf by Angelo Ancheta and Christopher Edley Jr., Attorneys for the Briefs, the briefs summarize the social science evidence bearing on the central constitutional questions of affirmative action before the Supreme Court. See:http://www.aera.net/communications/briefs_um.htm
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