In Their Own Words

'Is diversity a sufficiently compelling interest to justify racial preferences? We claim that it isn't and the University claims that it is.'

- Terry Pell, Center for Individual Rights chief executive officer, in August 2000.

'The attack on affirmative action can only prevail if the truth is not let into the court room.'

- Miranda Massie, lead counsel for the group of intervening student defendants in August 1999.

'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?'

- University President Lee Bollinger on Dec. 3, 1997, the day CIR filed its lawsuit against the Law School.

'We have all assumed we have moved from being a segregated society into a fully integrated society. Today, it remains the case that we are almost as segregated residentially as we were 50 years ago.'

- University attorney John Payton speaking in front of Federal District Judge Bernard Friedman on Dec. 23, 2000.

'The essence of our case is that the Law School employs a systematic double standard in admissions and that double standard is race.'

- Kirk Kolbo, lead counsel for the Center for Individual Rights, speaking in court on Dec. 23, 2000.