Notes From the President & CEO
FISHER V. UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS – A SEMINAL MOMENT
Much has been made of the various high-profi le matters pending before the nation’s highest court. One case in particular will likely have far-reaching implications on diversity in higher education and beyond.
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Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin is a case challeng- ing the admissions policy at Texas’ fl agship university. In Fisher, two white female plaintiff s denied under- graduate admission to UT allege that UT considers race in a constitutionally impermissible manner. However, the Austin Division of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected this claim. T e District Court, in particular, held that UT’s use of race was permissible because an applicant’s race “is not considered individually or given a numerical value; instead . . . [it is used] to provide a better understand- ing of a student as a person.” UT’s policy is modeled on the University of Michigan’s admission policy that was deemed constitutional in Grutter v. Bollinger. In the 2003 Grutter decision, the U.S. Supreme
Court held that it was acceptable for University of Michigan’s School of Law to engage “in a highly holistic review . . . [that gives] serious consideration
to all the ways an applicant might contribute to a diverse education environment.” More importantly, the Supreme Court expressly linked diversity to success. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote that the benefi ts of diversity “are not theoretical but real, as 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.” MCCA’s stakeholders set the standard by which
excellence in the profession is measured. You realize that homogeneity imperils success and that access to the deepest possible talent pool is essential. Fisher represents a game-changing moment for educational diversity and the lawyer pipeline. We hope that Justice O’Connor’s well-reasoned support for the business case for diversity will hold sway.
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Publications Staff
President & CEO Joseph K. West
Founder and Publisher Emeritus Lloyd M. Johnson Jr.
Editor-in-Chief Joshua H. Shields
Publishing Consultants Bill Cox Toni Coleman
Advertising Don Cooksey
Design/Art Direction QuadCreative
MCCA® Staff
Jennifer Chen Mahzarine Chinoy David Chu Donna Crook Brandon M. Fitzgerald Lori L. Garrett Jessica Martinez Andrea Pimm Connie Swindell-Harding
DIVERSITY & THE BAR® MAY/JUNE 2012
Contributing Writers Tom Calarco Patrick Folliard Chana Garcia Lori L. Garrett Jonathan Groner Nicki Mitchell Michelle J. Nealy Nicki Mitchell Joshua H. Shields
MCCA.COM
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