OMAHA, Neb.
The former dean of the University of Washington School of Law said Friday that Nebraska universities must be ready to adjust if voters approve a measure to ban most types of affirmative action in the state.
W.H. “Joe” Knight Jr.’s message to the Nebraska Legal Diversity Summit in Omaha: “Prepare yourselves.”
In 1998, voters in Washington approved a similar measure. Knight said minority enrollment decreased immediately, and has just now started to catch up because of the university’s hard work — and more money spent — on recruitment. Schools have also sought more scholarships from private donors, who can designate their money for minorities.
But a large problem with the measure, Knight said, was the perception it created among prospective students.
“You get a reputation,” Knight said in an interview with the Associated Press. Passing a ballot initiative to do away with affirmative action “suggests you’re not a welcome place.”
Knight spoke a day after University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman said the institution would push for diversity regardless of the outcome of the Nov. 4 vote on the ballot measure.
