Win or lose, lawsuits provide students with rare gift It started at New Student Orientation. In the "Diversity" portion of orientation exercises, we were forced to sit in a circle and list the benefits of living and learning in an educational community. It continued with course distribution requirements - to graduate each student must take one course that fulfills a Race and Ethnicity requirement. These small steps originally were intended to educate the student body and establish common understanding. But it was obvious that these modest efforts would not do much to unify a community made up of many shades and many sets of beliefs. And if it had not been for two fateful lawsuits filed in the fall of 1997, thousands of students would have graduated with only a superficial notion of how race and ethnicity really continue to impact personal and professional relationships. The lawsuits have afforded us, as students, the chance to confront each other, challenge views on race and affirmative action and learn through experience instead of dictated policy. Although the two lawsuits attacking the University's use of race in its admission processes have the potential to put a great strain on the school's financial and academic resources, in some ways they are a rare gift the University will give currently enrolled students. Of course, the University wants to win the lawsuits. But from the beginning, administrators have claimed a second purpose. "It is important for us to remember we are an academic institution," University Provost Nancy Cantor said yesterday. "This is an opportunity to become aware and self-conscious of what it means to live in a multicultural society. To think about how we relate to each other and cross boundaries. "I want the University to use this opportunity besides the public debate to really get to the core of a liberal education," she said. Administrators and students alike have acknowledged the opportunity that exists here. As students of science, law, literature and history, we can take advantage of being here at this crucial time - in the crucible where the future of affirmative action will be decided. As students of society, we are privileged to participate in what surely will be one of the 21st Century's great experiments. It is likely that these cases will travel to the U.S. Supreme Court and be the landmark decision on the future of affirmative action in the nation. And everyone in the University community - Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative - is taking part. Some may say that certain very vocal organizations have been given too much attention and space to express their views. Some may say students at the University have become apathetic and unemotional. But there has been a secret, more powerful force at work that has had a far greater influence than the colorful protests and activist literature. It has invaded bars and coffee houses, infected athletes and fraternities. It's become part of lunch, part of class and its effects will last. Although it often seems that as students at the University, we are bombarded with words like diversity and multi-culturalism, it is this debate that will help prepare us for professional situations. The lessons we learn in impromptu debates with friends and classmates about the pros and cons of affirmative action far outweigh the value of Race and Ethnicity classes. Cantor said that when she travels around the nation, speaking to alumni groups, it is apparent that the most recent alumni are very engaged in these issues. "It is a direct effect of coming of age in this period," Cantor said. The issues are hard to talk about. Even harder to come to agreement over. University departments have attempted to encourage discussions with forums, speeches and town meetings. The 13th Annual MLK Day Symposium, one of the largest MLK events in the nation, is scheduled for Monday and should help to continue the dialogue. But I fear that such events are not enough. I hope the University will continue its efforts not just to defend itself in court, but to fulfill its paramount mission - teach its students. Just by being here, though, we are learning. - Heather Kamins can be reached via e-mail at hbk@umich.edu. Heather Kamins Kandid Kamins Originally on page 4A in the 1-13-2000 issue of the Daily.