Examines the impact of homogeneity and diversity in communities and in higher education. Provides an overview of affirmative action, the challenges associated with instilling difference, and some of the strategies needed to impose change. Argues that higher education must reflect the realities of society. (RJM)

Argues that although certain assumptions underlie those who have received affirmative action, these programs have produced many important successes. Examines the ironic polarizing effect of affirmative action and discusses how affirmative action should not be confused with diversity. Highlights the importance of diversity and its role in higher…

Discusses the issues addressed in the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court term, such as the First, Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments, cruel and unusual punishment, sex offender registries, fair housing, cross burning, jury selection, affirmative action, abortion protests, and copyrights and the public domain. (CMK)

This multi-layered counterstory contextualizes the Michigan Law School and undergraduate affirmative action cases currently in the higher courts. Set within student intervenor arguments in the Michigan case, it evokes the spirit of Thurgood Marshall to replay history and arguments in the complex legal battles over affirmative action in higher…

Discusses the issues addressed during the 2001-2002 term of the U.S. Supreme Court, which convened on October 1, 2001: (1) school vouchers; (2) affirmative action; (3) online pornography; and (4) the death penalty. (CMK)

The author of "Choosing a College" (Harper & Row, 1989) discusses the difference between teachers and researchers, matching schools with students, and the failure of reforms to improve the quality of teaching in institutions of higher learning. Attributes the recent renewal of overt campus racism to misguided preferential quota programs. (FMW)

Reviews legislation and court decisions advancing wage and job equity for minorities and women in academic settings. Discusses provisions of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII, legal precedents for pay equity, and recent court decisions supporting voluntary affirmative action plans. (DMM)

Refers to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Supreme Court's disparate impact interpretation of Title VII in Griggs versus Duke Power Company. Contends that attacks on the Griggs decision are legally unsound and that claims made by advocates of validity generalization are scientifically unsupported. (Author/NB)

By allocating some attention and rewards to group performance, colleges could make their reward systems more congruent and less hypocritical, send a clear message about institutional values and desired behavior, and link institutional strategies to departmental actions. (MSE)

Among all college applicants, the disproportionate number of qualified Asian students presents special problems to admissions officers. There is the "model minority" segment and the underside--the economically and socially deprived who are candidates for affirmative action programs. (MLW)

Minority politicians who believe that colleges have ignored them in the past are winning political posts that are crucial for higher education and are using their new power. The ethnic composition of the faculty at the University of New Mexico has been the target of legislators in the last year. (MLW)

Affirmative action in hiring black and Hispanic college faculty is still controversial and has still not achieved its objectives. Even some middle-class black professors who have benefited from the policy oppose it. Misconceptions about the function of affirmative action persists; to some, it connotes preferential treatment and racial quotas. (MSE)

Critics say the University of Maryland's race-specific scholarship program aids mostly well-off blacks and is biased against whites. The scholarships were established in 1979 to help make amends for the state's history of excluding blacks from the university. (MSE)

Some colleges and universities are establishing scholarships for "first-generation students," whose parents did not attend college. Proponents see the aid as avoiding legal problems associated with affirmative action and reaching some disadvantaged whites. Others are concerned that, if they replace race-based scholarships, minority enrollments…

Activists say colleges have a tendency to view all Asian Americans as a "model minority" succeeding without need for affirmative action. Demographic diversity of Asian Americans raises complex questions for institutions, who are unable to provide for needs of refugees, recent immigrants, and native-born Americans in two dozen ethnic…