Smith v. University of Washington Law School |
 |
| Site Index:  |
ARCHIVES: Background and Older Stories |
Back: Smith v. Washington MAIN |
| U. Washington
Reverse Discrimination Trial Delayed (02/20/99) [Associated Press] "The trial in a reverse discrimination lawsuit stemming from now-abandoned University of Washington Law School admission policies has been postponed pending appeals of pretrial rulings. "The case brought by Katuria Smith, Angela Rock and Michael Pyle had been set for trial next Monday before U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Zilly. "Instead, Zilly agreed to wait until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals acts on challenges brought by the trio's lawyers from the Center for Individual Rights, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C., that opposes [race-based admissions] policies. "The Center for Individual Rights is appealing a ruling by Zilly a week ago that cited a landmark Supreme Court decision in a University of California-Davis medical school admissions case in 1978. "In that case, the high court held that maintaining separate admission tracks for whites and minorities would be illegal but that a university could legally seek to achieve ``educational diversity'' by using race as one factor among many in admissions. On that basis, Zilly dismissed the trio's claim that promoting racial diversity in a student body is not a compelling state interest. "Center [for Individual Rights] lawyers have cited a decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1996 which held that the 1978 ruling no longer is good case law and that University of Texas admissions policies to boost enrollment of blacks and Mexican Americans constituted an illegal bias against whites." (AP, via Spokane Net, 02/20/99) [Last Known Link: U. Wash. Deletes Race from Admissions, Substitutes Other Factors (02/20/99) [Associated Press] "Checking the minority box on a freshman application for the University of Washington won't help a student get admitted. Under Initiative 200, passed last fall, race and gender can't be considered. "In a bid to encourage diversity despite the initiative, which essentially ended affirmative action in school admissions and government contracting and hiring, the UW has revised a list of six factors that also will be considered.
"So demonstrating 'cultural awareness' or a history of 'overcoming personal
adversity' in a personal essay, for example, could help an applicant get in. All
freshman applications include such an essay, and admissions officers will award points to
those who recognize the complexities of American society. Admissions materials say
students 'who understand the richness of their own cultural heritage, or have developed an
understanding of other cultures ... are uniquely qualified to contribute to the
university's academic programs.' " (AP, via Oregon Live, 02/20/99) Universities Review Non-Racist Scholarships (02/15/99) [Seattle Times] "The state's two largest universities may soon have to stop offering scholarships specifically targeted to women or minority students. "The University of Washington and Washington State University have set up task forces to review how the schools' minority scholarship programs will be affected by Initiative 200. The task forces are supposed to make a final decision this month. "The task forces are working under the advice of the Attorney General's Office, which told them that minority scholarships are covered by the restrictions of the initiative, according to university officials. " 'It is safe to say that the ability to accept new money for scholarships based on race is severely limited. Indeed, it no longer exists,' said Ernest Morris, UW vice president for student affairs and a member of the UW's diversity advisory committee." (Seattle Times, by Roberto Sanchez, 02/15/99) [Last Known Link: http://www.seattletimes.com/news/education/html98/univ_021599.html ] Scope of Reverse Discrimination Suit Against UW Law School Narrowed (02/11/99) [Associated Press] "A reverse discrimination lawsuit against the University of Washington Law School no longer can be a class action because of Initiative 200, a federal judge has ruled. Only the damage claims of Katuria E. Smith and two others who brought the case will be considered, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas S. Zilly decided Wednesday. "One goal of the suit, filed in March 1997, was to bar the university from giving minority applicants special consideration in admissions. She and the other two plaintiffs also sought unspecified damages. "On Nov. 3 the initiative banning race and gender preferences in state contracting, hiring and school admissions won passage on a 58 percent statewide vote. University president Richard McCormick announced the next day that the university would no longer use race in admissions. " 'What the court basically said is that the citizens of the state of Washington did its job for it,' said Steven Hemmat, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. Legal experts said the ruling practically eliminates any chance that the case could affect the national legal battle over affirmative action." (AP, via Oregon Live, 02/11/99) [Last Known Link: Court Says I-200 Moots Portions of UW Race Preferences Lawsuit (02/10/99) [Press release from CIR] "U.S. District Court Judge Thomas S. Zilly today ruled that the passage of I-200 by Washington State voters last November renders moot portions of CIR's legal challenge of current admissions procedures. Plaintiffs Katuria Smith, Angela Rock, and Michael Pyle still will be able to challenge the constitutionality of the UW admissions system used at the time of their applications and will be able to obtain damages if that system is determined to be unlawful. "CIR had sought a declaration by the court that the defendants continue to unconstitutionally discriminate on the basis of race and had requested the court to issue an injunction forbidding the law school to use illegal racial preferences in admissions. Because state law now forbids the law school to "grant preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin," Judge Zilly concluded that these portions of CIR's lawsuit now were moot. "Judge Zilly also de-certified the lawsuit as a class action, holding that claims for injunctive and declaratory relief were necessary for the lawsuit to continue as a class action proceeding. "CIR had argued that the case should proceed in its entirety in view of the fact that state officials continue to disagree about the scope of racial preferences banned by I-200. CIR is reviewing Judge Zilly's order and will determine at the appropriate time whether to appeal some or all of it." (CIR 02/10/99) [Last Known Link: http://www.wdn.com/cir/sthpr2.htm ] Racial Preference Foes Increase Pressure on Colleges (01/26/99) [Associated Press] "They say the color of their skin kept them out of the schools of their choice. Now, Katuria Smith, a white former law school candidate from Washington state, and Jessie Tompkins, a black college student from Alabama, are in court. " 'I want a future where students can apply ... without worrying that their skin color will keep them out,' said Smith, whose case against the University of Washington law school, which denied her admission, goes to trial next month. "Smith spoke Tuesday at a news conference sponsored by conservative groups to launch a campaign charging the nation's top colleges with illegally using racial preferences in admissions. "The Center for Individual Rights — a conservative private law firm handling the cases for Smith and Tompkins — is running ads in student newspapers headlined "Guilty by Admission'' that say nearly every elite college in the United States violates the law. The center also issued two 30-page handbooks, it says, to help students identify discrimination and to help institutions keep from getting sued. " 'We've found use of racial ethnic preference in all of the states. The more selective schools tend to use preferences the most,' said Roger Clegg, general counsel for the group". (AP, via FoxNews, 01/26/99, by Anjetta Mcqueen) [Former Link (dead): UW and WSU Practice Unconstitutional 'Reverse Racism' in Admissions (09/17/98) A recent study released by the Center for Equal Opportunity reveals some amazing "reverse racist" statistics in the student admissions of the University of Washington and Washington State University. SAT scores and Grade Point Averages of minorities selected for admission are significantly lower than whites selected for admission. (Center for Equal Opportunity, Posted 9/17/98) [Last Known Link: http://www.ceousa.org/warp.html (dead)] END of ARCHIVES: Smith v. University of Washington Law School |
| Smith v. University of Washington Law School | ARCHIVES: Smith v. U. of Washington |
MAIN Washington State Education Page |
