Using critical discourse analysis, this study assesses reader comments to newspaper articles on the "Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin" Supreme Court case. The Fisher case challenges the consideration of race in the college admissions process at UT. Findings show that this racial equity practice was framed as being antithetical to…

This article revisits the University of Michigan's 2003 affirmative action cases, "Grutter v. Bollinger" and "Gratz v. Bollinger." Through the aid of critical textual analysis and critical race theory, the author looks back at the predominant narratives that framed the challenge to, and defense of, race-conscious affirmative…

This study investigated the relevance of participants' social group differences with regard to the processes and outcomes of community dialogues on affirmative action. We found that participants' professional status was most salient to both the quantity of participants' contributions as well as their persuasiveness within the dialogues, with…

This exploratory study examined white undergraduate students' (a) racial attitudes towards Asian Americans, (b) principled policy attitudes toward affirmative action, and (c) self-interest in relation to their support for college-based affirmative action policies for Asian Americans at a Midwestern university. A sample (n = 264, 28% male, 72%…

This article examines one university's policies regarding Native mascots and ethnic fraud through a Tribal Critical Race Theory analytic lens. Using the principle of interest convergence, we argue that institutions of higher education allow and even work actively towards a particular form or level of diversity, but they do not extend it far…

Using policy discourse analysis, the author analyzed 21 diversity action plans issued at 20 U.S. land-grant universities over a five-year period to identify images of diversity and the problems and solutions represented in diversity action plans. Discourses of marketplace, excellence, managerialism, and democracy emerged and served to construct…

Public higher education has undergone a process similar to that in the national polity: a one-sided struggle by those with power to shape the institution to be more market driven, more focused on what will generate (non-state) revenues, more dominated by top administrators, and less concerned about the working class and people of color. This…

Despite its relatively short history, policies connected with Affirmative Action have endured a controversial social, political, and legal past. Higher education has witnessed much of this controversy firsthand. Because the venue of many Affirmative Action battles has been waged within educational settings, faculty in higher education are uniquely…

Examines the important components of the University of Michigan's defense of its affirmative action practices and considers the significance of the upcoming lawsuit to the public debate on affirmative action in higher education. "The Compelling Need for Diversity in Higher Education," prepared by experts in defense of the university's…

Synthesizes and interprets information from the forthcoming report on race and higher education "Compelling Interests: Examining the Evidence on Racial Dynamics in Colleges and Universities" to be published by Teachers College Press. Reviews four misconceptions about affirmative action and college admission. Research demonstrates the continuing…

James Traub, in his report for the "New York Times Magazine," suggests that some "adaptive" techniques, such as cascading applicants to other colleges and particular administrative approaches, will provide the benefits of affirmative action without its drawbacks. This is a misleading message. Adaptive techniques will not offset…

Preceded by recent affirmative action rulings, the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954) came during a time of legal retreat away from addressing racial issues. Rather than resolve America's race problems, the history and modern structure of "Brown" and other higher education desegregation cases…

In spite of the results of referenda in California and Washington and some troubling judicial decisions, there are some important signs that well-conceived affirmative action policies will survive. The "Hopwood" decision is based on arguments that have not persuaded other courts. Affirmative action cannot be taken for granted, but it is not dead.…

Examines excerpts from the late James Farmer's presentation to the William Monroe Trotter Institute at the University of Massachusetts. Farmer devoted his life to civil rights activism and social reform. Comments on the most recent Trotter Review, "Diversity, Pedagogy and Higher Education: Lessons and Accomplishments," which includes 17…

Reports on a study of attitudes of U.S. voters regarding diversity and diversity education in higher education based on telephone interviews with 2,011 voters. The majority support diversity education in general and specific programs under this heading. Support is strongest among 18- to 30-year olds and self-described liberals. (SLD)