The law firm challenging the University's undergraduate admissions policies will file a similar suit today against the Law School.
Barbara Grutter, who applied to the Law School in December 1996 and was denied admission to this past Fall's incoming class, is suing the University, alleging that the admissions policies discriminated against her by giving racial preferences to minority students.
"The plantiff in this case has a very compelling case that will hold up in court," Michael Greve, executive director of the Washington D.C.-based law firm Center for Individual Rights, told The Michigan Daily yesterday.
 |
| JOHN KRAFT/Daily Pre-law Club President Amy Liu speaks to students interested in applying to law school. Some club members plan to apply to the University's Law School. |
Grutter, 44, graduated from Michigan State University in 1978 with a GPA of 3.81 and LSAT score of 161. For 11 years, Grutter has run a health care information consulting business.
The suit claims Grutter suffered humiliation, emotional distress, pain and suffering and economic damages from not being admitting to the University. The suit states that she is still willing to attend the Law School.
The complaint, filed by CIR, names University President Lee Bollinger, Law Dean Jeffrey Lehman, Assistant Dean for Law School Admissions Dennis Shields, the University Board of Regents and the Law School as defendants in a class-action suit.
Lehman said he is confident the school's admissions policy is constitutional.
"We do not use quotas," Lehman said. "We are fortunate that we have far more well-qualified applicants than we can accept each year."
Of the 3,636 students who applied for admission to the Law School's class of 1999, 1,123 were accepted. Minority students comprise 21 percent of the 1999 Law class.
University President Lee Bollinger said the addition of a new lawsuit does not change the core public policy issues at stake, nor does it aid the firm's aggressive tactics against affirmative action nationwide.
"I don't think it enhances their position in any way," Bollinger said. "The great issue is will we, as Texas and California sadly demonstrate, head towards a resegregation in education or will we continue to strive towards the ideals of Brown v. Board of Education."
Terry Pell, senior legal counsel for CIR, said the two lawsuits are currently separate because they challenge admissions programs in different colleges within the University.
"This is a separate second lawsuit," Pell said. "As the two lawsuits progress, they may be combined if they have very similar characteristics. But we do not know about that now."
But Pell said both suits attack the same problem - discrimination.
"It's the same issue in both cases," Pell said. "Both admissions programs are discriminatory."
Vice President for University Relations Walter Harrison said the two lawsuits attack different admissions policies, but will bring the community closer to mitigating the public policy debate over affirmative action.
"This raises discussion of how the intricacies of these two admissions procedures work and the major public policy question, which is: Should public universities use race as a factor in admission policies to achieve a diverse student body?" he said.
Greve said it is too early to speculate whether CIR will bring a suit against another University, but there are "no immediate plans" for another suit.
Mary Frances-Berry, a 1970 Law alumna who chairs the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, said she is outraged by CIR's tactics.
"I think it is a disgrace that they are going around the country filing these lawsuits," Frances-Berry said. "I think the University of Michigan has made a great contribution in admitting women and students of color in creating a diverse student body ... I'm sure the University has not done anything that would make them liable."
The lawsuit came as a surprise to the University community and received mixed reactions from many Law students.
Law first-year student Mike Michmerhuizen said affirmative action practices are not the only way to achieve diversity in the Law School.
"I think it should totally be by the numbers or by the objective criteria," Michmerhuizen said. "I don't think that you need a race-conscious system to get diversity in the law school."
Other Law students, however, said the school should use race as a factor in an attempt to gain a diverse student body.
"The Law School is making great efforts to diversify the campus," said Michigan Law Review Editor in Chief Todd Aagaard. "I don't think anything the Law School is doing should be illegal."
Patrick Hamacher, one of the two plaintiffs in the lawsuit against LSA, said he is unsure about the effects that the new suit against the Law School will have on his case.
"I don't think it will hurt our case, but since the Law School is separate, I don't know how much it will affect our case," Hamacher said.
While the Law School admits to using race as a factor in admission procedures, it denies admitting unqualified students, according to the Law School's faculty Admissions Committee report released in 1992.
"The minimal criterion is that no applicant should be admitted unless we expect that applicant to do well enough to graduate with no serious academic problems," the report states.
The report claims that diversity within the school enriches the learning experience for all students.
"By enrolling a 'critical mass' of minority students, we have ensured their ability to make unique contributions to the character of the law school ...," according to the report.
Detroit attorney Denise Lewis, a 1983 Law School alumna, said she fears a lawsuit of this kind could diminish minority representation in the Law School.
"I know diversity was certainly important in my experience," Lewis said. "I am of African American descent. I went to school with Native American, Hispanic and international students. It gave us an opportunity to hear different facts and come at it from different perspectives."
Law School alumna Leslie Newman, who graduated in 1994, also said diversity was an integral component of her education, and has helped her in her current job as an attorney for a non-profit housing organization in Texas.
"I learned so much more because of the diverse nature of my class," Newman said. "You learn a lot in law school outside of the classroom. If my class had been all white, my current job would have been more difficult."
Some faculty members said the lawsuits will be an opportunity to test the legality of the University's admissions practices.
"These are very important social issues that should be looked at in court," said chemistry Prof. Robert Sharp. "They very definitely have merit."
Prospective Law student Matt Kossen, an LSA junior, said he would like to see current affirmative action policies altered.
"Race should be a factor in determining admission, but should not be a primary factor," Kossen said. "It should be done in such a way to ensure a diverse campus, but not at the expense of other qualified candidates."
Even before the filing of today's lawsuit, legal scholars nationwide have speculated that the case against LSA could travel to the U.S. Supreme Court and set new legal precedent.
Greve, however, said it is not CIR's intention to argue the case in front of the high court.
"The goal is not to produce a Supreme Court case," Greve said. "If it happens, fine, then we'll make our case there."
Lehman said that if the case against the Law School reaches the U.S. Supreme Court, he is prepared to defend the school's policies.
"There is an issue that we could very well end up in the Supreme Court," Lehman said. "I would be honored to defend our policy in the Supreme Court."
12-03-97
| Next Article |
should be sent to: daily.letters@umich.edu | should be sent to: online.daily@umich.edu |