Notes From the President & CEO
A COMPROMISE FOR DIVERSITY?
PREDICTABLY, THE U.S. SUPREME COURT’S RECENT DECISION IN THE WATERSHED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION CASE of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin unleashed a flood of analysis from many quarters. Much of the discussion focused, understandably, on the challenges to the educational pipeline and the emphasis on “strict scrutiny.” For now, the Supreme Court lets diversity stand but instructed the lower court to raise the bar for affirmative action in college admissions. A more nuanced discussion, however, should be over
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the real-world, long-term impact on this country’s work force as it seeks to compete in a global environment. It is hard to argue that diversity in college admissions is without merit when you consider the increasing value being placed on this factor by corporations. Te starkest evidence of this is the shift in corporate
support for affirmative action positions. Tirty-nine years ago, when the 1974 case of DeFunis v. Odegaard was heard by the Court, corporations did not file or support pro affirmative action amicus briefs. To the contrary, the National Association of Manufacturers actually filed an amicus brief supporting Marco DeFunis, the white stu- dent who sued the University of Washington School of Law. Today, corporations recognize the dynamic nature of a global marketplace. As a result Fortune 100 corpora- tions note in their amicus brief in Fisher that the pursuit of diversity in higher education is not only a business but also an economic imperative. Further evidence of this shift in attitude can also be found in the increasing use of chief diversity officers within major corporations. A little over a decade ago, only three companies in the Fortune 500 had full-time chief diversity officer positions. Today, 90 percent of the Fortune 500 companies have such a
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 Quad/Graphics Creative Solutions
DIVERSITY & THE BAR® JULY/AUGUST 2013 MCCA® Staff
Jennifer Chen Mahzarine Chinoy David Chu Donna Crook Charles Hollins Jessica Martinez Aracely Muñoz Petrich Andrea Pimm
Contributing Writers Brian Dabbs Patrick Folliard Jonathan Groner Jennifer Hoover Lydia Lum Joshua H. Shields Darryl Weiss
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position or its equivalent and the majority of those report directly to the company’s CEO. Tese statistics run counter to the conventional
wisdom that as the economy falters, companies should curtail the resources devoted to diversity and inclusion. To the contrary, as companies seek greater opportunities in a broader, global setting, the ability to master cultural competencies and build diverse and inclusive workplaces becomes even more important. Tese companies under- stand this dynamic and they support diversity in the pipeline because it eventually helps strengthen the ability of their companies and this country to compete. Tis is the real importance of what the Court has done in Fisher and is the reason why MCCA will feature a plenary ses- sion devoted to Fisher and its aftermath at the Pathways to Diversity conference in New York on Sept 16, 2013. It should make for an interesting and useful discussion.
JOSEPH K. WEST President & CEO
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