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University of Georgia (UGA): The Courts struck down quotas and preferences at UGA on July 24, 2000. BUT the school administration has vowed to appeal the ruling in order to keep quotas. |
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(2) U of Georgia Wants Quotas |
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"Attorney Lee Parks, who sued UGA over the policy, said Adams has a lot of constituencies to answer to, including politicians, the Board of Regents, alumni and faculty, who expect him "to pursue what they consider the high moral ground." Appealing [the court's anti-quota decision] was the university's only political option, Parks said, calling it "window dressing." "The lawsuits focused on the Total Student Index, or TSI, an evaluative tool used in about 1,200 admissions cases. It assigns a numeric value to various factors, including economic and academic disadvantage [i.e., racial or ethnic origin], Georgia residency, academic factors, leadership, whether parents attended college, whether immediate family members are UGA alumni and --- until Tuesday --- ethnic origin.
"As a result of previous litigation, UGA dropped gender from the TSI last year. Most
[but by no means all] of the university's 23,000 undergraduates were admitted on academic
merit. "These decisions that I announce today are in keeping with our goal stated
last year to continue to act both aggressively and responsibly in this area," Adams
said. "It is clear that the State of Georgia must do all it can to make the benefits
of higher education available to the broadest possible segment of its
population.""
University of Georgia to Appeal Ruling Against Affirmative Action (Posted 08/16/00) Washington Post 08/16/00: "The University of Georgia yesterday announced plans to appeal a federal court ruling that struck down as unconstitutional the school's policy of affirmative action in student admissions. "U.S. District Judge Avant Edenfield ruled July 24 that the school's consideration of race in admitting a small percentage of undergraduates amounted to "naked racial balancing" that violates the Constitution. He ordered the flagship state university to admit three white women who had challenged the policy and to pay two of them $9,200 in compensation for higher expenses they faced attending other colleges last year. "A ruling by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals would affect schools in Georgia, Alabama and Florida, not just the university, which is in Athens.
"The U.S. Supreme Court has restricted affirmative action in other areas but has not
ruled in recent years on a college admissions case. "The debate on the use of
affirmative action in promoting diversity on the nation's college campuses for educational
purposes has reached the critical point where a clear-cut decision must be reached,"
said Stephen R. Portch, chancellor of the state university system." (Washington
Post 08/16/00, page A10, by Kenneth J. Cooper)
U. of Georgia Will Challenge Court's Rejection of Its Affirmative-Action Policy (Posted 08/16/00 - pay site) "University of Georgia officials announced Tuesday that they would appeal a federal judge's ruling last month that the institution has unconstitutionally used race as a factor in admitting some undergraduate students. "But the university will stop using the admissions practices at issue until the case is resolved, the officials said.
"Michael F. Adams, the university's president, and other Georgia higher-education
leaders said Tuesday that they expect their court challenge to take on national
significance. The appeal, they said, could finally force the federal-court system, which
has been divided on the use of affirmative action, to take a definitive stand on how
colleges can consider race to try to attract a diverse set of students. "There is a
deep difference of legal opinion among courts ruling in this area of law, and university
administrators nationwide are not sure what is legal and what is not," Mr. Adams
said. "We believe this case has the potential to be decisive in this issue of
national importance."" (From the Chronicle of Higher Education, by Sara
Hebel) UGA Quota Victims Resume Their Education (08/17/00) Atlanta Journal-Constitution Headline: "She's at UGA on Her Own Terms" [Athens] -- "Having spent the last year battling the University of Georgia, Aimee Bogrow is thrilled now to be living in a residence hall, looking forward to taking elementary Japanese and planning on getting football tickets for her dad, a UGA alum. "I don't have any ill feelings toward the university and don't want there to be any grudges," she said. "My intention is to go to school and enjoy my classes. The race issue is now demolished and I won one for the people." "Slight and articulate, Bogrow, 19, was one of three young women who filed suit against UGA, saying that its admissions policies were unconstitutionally discriminatory because they provided preferences to male and African-American applicants." [UGA removed gender as an admissions factor last year as a result of legal pressure, but it was only recently forced to abandon the use of race and ethnicity in its admissions decisions in July 2000 as a result of the lawsuit filed by Aimee Bogrow and two other non-minority girls who had been refused admission to UGA in favor of less-qualified minorities.] The three plaintiffs -- Jennifer Johnson, Molly Ann Beckenhauer, and Aimee Bogrow -- had been denied admission because they are white and the school had too many whites according to federal quota rules. Following Judge Edenfield's anti-quota ruling, these young women are now attempting to pick up the pieces of their college education. Aimee Bogrow knows her successful lawsuit against racial quotas at the school represents a landmark legal ruling. She wanted to attend college at UGA, a goal for which she has studiously prepared during grade school and high school. She had the loving support and motivation of her parents in her youthful dedication to achieving this goal. Aimee worked hard to achieve the grades necessary to enter UGA, and was appalled that she was turned away because she is white. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, young Ms. Bogrow "had been taught to stand up for herself and others, but had never even thought of joining a lawsuit against the state's largest university." She was shocked when, in spite of her excellent academic achievements, UGA rejected her for less well-qualified applicants who happened to be members of protected racial groups. The Journal-Constitution reports on the self-doubt this caused Ms. Bogrow: "I kept thinking, where did I screw up?" she said. "Who thinks about admissions policies, and exactly how they work? As the lawsuit grew, I realized that the admissions standards weren't right in the first place, and that even if I was admitted, I wouldn't drop the suit until they dropped the race issue."
Aimee Bogrow hopes to find an undergraduate major at UGA leading up to a career in
law. She indicated that her interest in the practice of law has grown much stronger
in light of the recent legal fight to gain fair and race-blind treatment by UGA's
admissions process. As a result of her fight for race-blind justice, Ms. Bogrow is
quoted by the Journal-Constitution as saying "that two or three people can really
make a difference in how the world is run." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 08/17/00 by
Rebecca McCarthy) Adversity.Net Prediction (08/16/00) The NAACP and the professional quota lobby will convince UGA to drop its Supreme Court legal challenge to ending racial and gender quotas. Why? Because the professional quota lobby knows that if the current Supreme Court is allowed to rule on this case they will very likely ban ALL preferences in higher education. This is an outcome the professional quota lobby wants to avoid at all costs. [Editor 08/16/00] See Related (Historical): NJ Teacher Sharon Taxman Bribed by NAACP See Related (Historical): Boston Latin School Board Bribed by NAACP END Education - (2) U of Georgia Vows to Continue Quotas |
Education: |
(1) UGA: Undergrad Quotas Defeated |
(2)
UGA: School Vows to Continue Quotas |
(3) UGA: Law School Suit Settled |
