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UC Submits Legal Brief on Affirmative Action to US Supreme Court

Byuclafaculty

There is currently a challenge to the University of Texas’ affirmative action plan before the U.S. Supreme Court. Various interested parties have submitted friend-of-the-court briefs in support of the U of Texas program. Inside Higher Ed today carries a lengthy article on the case.

California voters enacted Prop 209 in 1996 which barred affirmative action in student admissions, so it might seem that UC has no interest in the Texas case.  (In 1995, before voters enacted Prop 209, the Regents had enacted a similar ban.  That ban was removed after Prop 209 made it redundant.)  However, UC has submitted a brief in support of the U of Texas’ position.  It essentially argues that the Prop 209 experience in California shows that affirmative action is needed.

The Inside Higher Ed article is at:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/08/14/college-groups-flood-supreme-court-briefs-defending-affirmative-action

The UC brief is at:
http://www.utexas.edu/vp/irla/Documents/ACR%20The%20President%20and%20Chancellors%20of%20the%20University%20of%20California-c.pdf

You can see the UC Regents’ 1995 action on affirmative action below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBB1vM6RNZA?feature=player_detailpage]

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