MALDEF regional counsel Nina Perales commented on the continued need for affirmative action:
“We urge Texas A&M officials to rethink their decision to reject using race as a plus factor in
admissions.” She added, “A&M says it hopes to increase diversity with race-neutral outreach, but they
have tried that approach for many years now and they are still running into a brick wall.” The report
found that under the Ten Percent Plan, A&M enrollments for African Americans and Latinos in 2003 were
still one-third lower than in 1995, before affirmative action was discontinued. SALT co-president
and St. Mary’s law professor José (Beto) Juárez stated, “The Supreme Court’s recent Grutter v.
Bollinger ruling recognizes that student diversity creates educational benefits that ‘are not
theoretical but real.’” Juárez explained, “This report is needed because universities in Texas must
rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of their previous race-neutral policies before restarting
affirmative action programs.”
Michael A. Olivas, a law professor at the University of
Houston and co-author of the Ten Percent Plan legislation, said, ‘I believe that ‘blend it, don’t
end it’ is a wise approach, surely preferable to the Texas A&M approach, which declined to employ
Grutter and originally included the Aggie Legacy points until they were embarrassed into ending the
point system. Texas colleges need to build on the Ten Percent Plan’s contribution to socioeconomic and
geographic diversity at the flagship universities.’
Olivas added, ‘At the same time,
it is also clear that much more needs to be done to increase racial diversity, especially in Texas
professional schools and graduate programs.’ For example, only 3.3% of Texas medical degrees went to
African Americans, less than half of the national average. Without affirmative action at the UT Law
School (1997-2003), African American enrollments dropped by nearly three-fifths compared to 1990-95,
and Mexican American enrollments dropped by over one-quarter.
Wade Henderson, General
Counsel for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund stated, “Affirmative action
continues to be an essential tool to give qualified individuals equal access to opportunities in higher
education. The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, through the Americans for a Fair
Chance project, will continue to work with Texas institutions of higher education as they strive to
advance equal opportunity for all students.”
William Kidder of the Equal Justice Society
explained, “Our findings challenge the unwarranted claims by the Bush Administration’s Department of
Education, which appears determined to scare universities away from constitutionally permissible forms
of affirmative action regardless of the evidence.”
Texas Civil Rights Review 