Unless selective universities are allowed to consider race when admitting students, the institutions won’t be able to create the kind of diverse classrooms needed to prepare students for jobs and leadership roles in an increasingly multiracial society and global marketplace.
That is the crux of one of the major arguments being advanced in a 40-page brief signed by more than 400 scholars in support of the University of Texas at Austin’s defense of race-conscious affirmative action. The case is set to go before the U.S. Supreme Court this fall.
Developing the brief and getting the 444 researchers to sign off on it was no light feat, according to the organizers. The process started in February the day after the Supreme Court agreed to hear the UT Austin case, when UCLA Civil Rights Project Director Gary Orfield sent out an electronic query to several researchers asking if they wanted to help put together a brief.
The number of interested scholars grew, and eventually conference calls were held every Friday morning to help shape the document into what it is today.
“In a way, these weekly calls became an ongoing peer review in which ideas and language were challenged and improved, and a wider and wider array of research from a number of disciplines was considered,” Orfield explained in a statement about the development of the document.
After a first draft was prepared, it was circulated around the country.
“We asked people to read it, to comment if something was inaccurate or could be improved, and to sign it if they agreed,” Orfield stated. “It was deeply impressive to see the energy, commitment and knowledge of many colleagues who put other work aside to forge this document.”
