Washington Governor Gary Locke wants to change I-200 to allow racial preferences again! Gov. wants to "tweak" I-200 to promote "forced diversity" in Washington State colleges and universities. |
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Newest stories appear first Race bill unlikely to see action By Randy Trick, The UW Daily Online,
2004-02-06 Last known link: Critics blast bills allowing race as factor in admissions By Florangela Davila OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON - "The topic of race - always a contentious and passionate subject - was that and more at a legislative hearing yesterday on a proposal to once again allow race to be a factor in state public-college admissions. "One lawmaker chided some audience members after they applauded loudly against the bill. 'This is a hearing, not a circus,' said Rep. Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, D-Seattle. "... Legislation in the Senate and the House - Senate Bill 6268 and House Bill 2700 - would amend state law in accordance with last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that defined what admissions policies using race are constitutional - and what policies are not. The court said race could be a factor as long as it justifies a 'compelling state interest in student-body diversity.' [Editor's Note: The Supreme Court's June 23, 2003 rulings in Grutter v. Bollinger and in Gratz v. Bollinger did not require states to consider race as a factor in student admissions, nor did the high court's rulings overrule state laws such as Washington's I-200. --Tim Fay.] " 'This legislation recognizes that maintaining a diverse student body is important academically, socially and culturally,' said Gutierrez Kenney, the bill's sponsor. 'This is not about points. This is not about quotas.' [Editor's Note: This is a disingenuous argument. The Supreme Court's 6/23/03 Michigan rulings did not cite any evidence that "forced diversity" per se improves academic achievement. -- Tim Fay.] "At last week's hearing before a Senate subcommittee, speakers favored the bill. Yesterday's testimony before the House Higher Education Committee included well-known as well as ordinary voices speaking out against the legislation. " 'Let's cut right to the chase,' said John Carlson, radio commentator and chairman of the campaign for Initiative 200, which eliminated the use of race for college admissions, public employment and contracting. It was approved in 1998. 'The UW - my alma mater - is leading the charge to bring back racial preferences.' University of Washington statistics show that blacks and Latinos make up roughly the same percentage of freshmen as they had in 1998, [Carlson] said. 'The UW has proved that you can use race-neutral (admissions) criteria to diversify a campus without dividing and selecting students by race.' "Tim Eyman, one of the initiative's co-sponsors, said, 'Racial discrimination is indefensible when used by government.' "Eyman characterized race-based college-admissions policies as a drug. Voters who passed I-200, he said, had done an 'intervention.' College officials went 'cold turkey.' Now college officials 'want to fall off the wagon.' "Tim Washburn, assistant vice president of UW enrollment services, said the 1998 racial-enrollment statistics should not be used as a benchmark. Those statistics 'did not mean we had achieved critical mass,' he said, alluding to the court's language. "Rebecca Saldaņa, speaking on behalf of the King County Bar Association and the Washington State Hispanic Bar Association, noted that Latinos make up less than 2 percent of all lawyers in the state. She said the bill would address the inequality. "But some of the most ardent voices against the bill came from minorities. " 'I am a child of Cuban parents. So I'm a minority. If you pass this, I could end up taking the place (in college) of someone more deserving,' David Roman said. " 'I believe standards should be applied equally,' said Quenton Shaw, who is African American." Last known link: Race-based question draws big, split crowd SCOTT GUTIERREZ THE OLYMPIAN 01-29-04 "A proposal to allow [Washington state] colleges and universities to consider race as a factor in admissions drew a divided crowd Wednesday, including several critics who argued it would "gut" a voter initiative passed six years ago. House Bill 2700 would permit state colleges and universities to consider race, color or ethnicity in the admissions process as a means of building campus diversity. [Editor's Note: In 1998 Washington state voters overwhelmingly approved Initiative 200 which outlawed consideration of race and ethnicity n student admissions. This legislation seeks to overturn that citizen-approved measure. -- Tim Fay.] The legislation, along with a companion bill in the Senate that was voted out of committee this week, was introduced at Gov. Gary Locke's request. "In a dynamic committee hearing, several people who led the 1998 campaign to pass Initiative 200, which outlawed preferential treatment based on race in public employment, contracting or college admissions, accused legislators of trying to override the will of voters. " 'Race-neutral policies are working,' said Pat Herbold, King County Republican Party chairwoman. "But the bill's sponsors point out that the bill would preclude colleges from giving "points" to applicants based on race or from apportioning a certain amount of enrollment slots for minority students. "Supporters say it would follow a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that ruled schools could consider race as one of several factors in admissions to promote student diversity without violating the Constitution. "Higher education officials stressed Wednesday how important a diverse learning environment is to preparing students for work in a multicultural world. " 'We do not think we have achieved the level of diversity, or critical mass, that would serve our students best,' said Tim Washburn, assistant vice president for enrollment services at the University of Washington. "Wednesday's hearing drew a crowd of students and advocates in support of the bill. On the other side, conservative radio talk show host John Carlson and anti-tax crusader Tim Eyman testified against the bill, as did several residents. "Eyman said universities have a "drug addiction" with race-based admission. "Rep. Phyllis Kenney, D-Seattle, the bill's sponsor and chairwoman of the House Higher Education Committee, said it doesn't subtract from what voters passed with I-200 because it doesn't allow quotas or decisions based solely on race. "The bill's fate is uncertain. In the Republican-controlled Senate, Majority Leader Bill Finkbeiner said Republicans have concerns about the bill. "Quenton Shaw, a Des Moines comic book writer, testified against the bill, saying he didn't want it to affect his children. Shaw, who is black, said he doesn't think he is unique in his opinion. " 'I don't want them to have to grow up in a world where race is always an issue,' Shaw said after the hearing." Last known link: Amend I-200, affirm affirmative action Seattle Times Editorial 01-25-04 "The Washington Legislature should amend Initiative 200 to permit colleges and universities to consider race as a factor in admission. Not because it will make a major difference in practice, but because the current policy is embarrassing and shortsighted. "Passed by voters in 1998, I-200 prohibits preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in public employment, public education or public contracting. "At the time, university officials promised they would continue to strive for a racially diverse student body because of its value to the educational experience and its reflection of the real world. Although admissions of minority students dropped initially, the proportion of minority students to the whole student body is about what it was in 1998 at several schools. "But Initiative 200 remains an embarrassment and was mentioned by observers as a troublesome issue in the recent search for a new University of Washington president. "Companion measures in the House and Senate would amend I-200 to permit consideration of race as a factor in university admissions. That would be consistent with a recent U.S. Supreme Court case dealing with the University of Michigan. The court ruled that consideration of race was constitutional but reversed the university's system of awarding points for minority status. "The I-200 amendment, which will not affect public employment or contracting, is supported by the governor and by lawmakers of both parties. "The U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged the value of a diverse student body in its ruling. The Washington Legislature should affirm that value by amending I-200." Last known link: Governor, Legislature shouldn't mess with I-200 By Edward Blum and Roger Clegg "If Gov. Gary Locke has his way, the Legislature will be voting on a bill that would allow the state's public universities to once again discriminate in favor of some applicants, and against others, on the basis of race and ethnicity. "The proposal is bound to generate another polarizing - and, more importantly, a needless and pointless - public and legislative battle over the issue of racial preferences in public policy. The voters of Washington have already spoken on this issue: In 1998, they voted overwhelmingly for Initiative 200, which forbids the state from treating a person differently based on his or her skin color or ethnic heritage. "The proposed bill would, as The Chronicle of Higher Education reported, "effectively gut" I-200. "Locke is trying to justify his revisitation of this issue by pointing to the Supreme Court's decisions last summer in the University of Michigan cases. "But the court's decisions do not support the governor's proposal. In the first place, the court, in upholding the limited use of race in some university admissions programs, did not say that such discrimination was mandatory - only that it was permissible. "And Washingtonians have sent a clear message that, even if they are allowed to discriminate, they don't want to, because it is divisive, unfair and morally wrong. "The governor's use of the Supreme Court's decision is wrongheaded for another reason as well. If his proposal were passed, the court's decision nonetheless would actually bar the University of Washington from abandoning its colorblind admission polices and starting to use racial and ethnic preferences again. "This is because the court specifically stated that admissions preferences may not be used if race-neutral means have not been given "serious, good-faith consideration." "UW has not only considered such race-neutral alternatives since I-200 was passed in 1998, it has actually employed them - and it has done so with abundant success. As a result of the school's outreach, recruitment and retention programs, the number of "underrepresented minorities" at UW is back to where it was when the school was using preferences. "Therefore, it would be illegal for UW to use racial preferences. Colorblind admissions policies at UW are working well for everyone. "According to UW's Web site, before the passage of I-200, African Americans made up 2.9 percent of the 1998 autumn freshman enrollment at the flagship campus, and today it is virtually the same at 2.85 percent; the Hispanic percentage went from 4.7 percent to 4.34 percent - a drop of fewer than a dozen students. "In other words, the percentage of Hispanics is within a half a percentage point of where it was, and the percentage of African Americans is within a tenth of a percentage point. "The Supreme Court made clear last summer that racial and ethnic preferences can be used only as a last resort, only if there is no other way to achieve diversity. We know that UW cannot meet this test, because it has achieved the same level of diversity without preferences that it was achieving with them. "Without a single doubt, therefore, if the University of Washington begins using race and ethnicity in admissions after being given a green light by the Legislature, a costly lawsuit will be filed (as it was against the University of Washington Law School a few years ago). The state will lose, and the taxpayers will foot the bill. "Moreover, it is also likely that the federal Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights will threaten to cut off UW's federal money if it re-embraces preferences. "President Bush personally - as governor and as president - and the rest of his administration have strongly supported the use of race-neutral means to achieve diversity. Indeed, they have pointed to the very effective outreach, recruitment and retention programs like the ones implemented at UW during the past five years as a model approach. "We at the Center for Equal Opportunity are poised to file a complaint with the U.S. Education Department if Locke's bill becomes law. "A final point about the Supreme Court's decision: Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote that she expected that the continued academic progress of African Americans and Latinos would make the use of preferences unnecessary in 25 years. Thus, the court recognized these temporary discriminatory policies to be an aberration to the timeless constitutional principles of equal rights - principles embodied in I-200. "Instead of overturning those principles, the governor and the Legislature should concentrate on the educational achievement gaps that still exist between whites and Asians on the one hand, and blacks and Hispanics on the other. These gaps begin as early as age 3 or 4 for most of these children and continue through high school. Lowering the bar for a handful of minority students applying to UW does nothing for the thousands of other black and Hispanic students who graduate from Washington high schools reading at eighth-grade levels. "Close the gap and there won't be a need to lower the academic bar. That would be a better solution for everyone." -- by Edward Blum and Roger Clegg, Center for Equal Opportunity. From the Washington Times 01-27-04 - Last known link:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2001844106_blum27.html WA: Race bill faces tough road By Randy Trick, UW Daily Online 2004-01-23 "Although 24 people made the morning commute to Olympia to speak in favor of a Senate bill allowing state colleges to use race as an admissions factor, the bill's sponsor says that show of support does not ensure passage. " 'The question is if the bill gets to the floor,' said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle. Kohl-Welles also lectures part-time at the UW. The Senate Higher Education Committee passed the bill yesterday after the public hearing. The bill is now in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and it is the bill's fate there that has Kohl-Welles and her co-sponsors uncertain. " 'There are some members of the committee that do not make a point to see the affirmative action of the last 50 years, but see in vivid color the affirmative action of the last 10 years,' said Sen. Adam Klein, D-Seattle. Klein is the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee and a co-sponsor of SB 6268. The bill was introduced at the request of Democratic Gov. Gary Locke. "Republican leadership in the Senate has not drafted a formal stance on the bill. 'We are striving for a color-blind society,' said a statement from Sen. Bill Finkbeiner, R-Redmond and the Senate majority leader. 'The natural equilibrium bears out when quotas are not a factor. This is demonstrated with the minority numbers at the UW and WSU after the passage of I-200. Our caucus has not taken a position.' "A number of officials from the UW made the morning commute to advocate the bill's passage. Tim Washburn, assistant vice president of enrollment services, and President Lee Huntsman told the Senate Higher Education Committee that diversity in the student body at the UW has suffered since Initiative 200 passed in 1998. I-200 prohibited affirmative action in the state. [Note: This is patently false. I-200 did not prohibit affirmative action. In fact, it guarantees that all of Washington's citizens will be treated equally under the law without regard to race, gender or ethnicity. --Tim Fay, Adversity.Net] "ASUW President Brittany Goodnight and Julia Harrison, Graduate and Professional Student Senate president, also spoke, expressing the importance for students to learn immersed in a diverse student body. "Laws allow initiatives to be modified two years after passage. Last year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race may be considered in the admissions process as long as quotas, set-asides and bonuses are not used. According to Kohl-Welles, the passage of the bill would bring the state in line with the rest of the nation. Only two states -- Washington and California -- do not use race as a factor in admissions." From the "UW Daily Online" - Last
known link: Bills would let race be factor in college admissions again Thurs., Jan. 22, 2004 "Gov. Gary Locke is supporting the first major change to Initiative 200, so public colleges and universities could, once again, use race as one factor in admissions. "A state Senate bill, the subject of a public hearing in Olympia this morning, would modify language in state law to be consistent with last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling. "In its controversial and narrowly approved University of Michigan law-school decision, the Court said race could be a factor in admission as long as it justifies a 'compelling state interest in student-body diversity.' "Supporters say the bill, and a companion bill in the House, would amend but not abolish I-200, which three of five state voters approved in 1998. The initiative eliminated racial and gender preferences in public employment, contracting and college admissions. "The proposed changes aren't 'about set-asides or numerical quotas,' said Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, the bill's sponsor in the Senate. We allow institutions to use different factors for admission, say if a student is an athlete. This is just a tool so we can get the most capable, quality students.' "But Seattle-area attorneys Harry Korrell and Russ Brooks argue such legislation would unfairly award admissions preferences to some students and not others. " 'As soon as we get away from thinking about people in terms of their race or color, the better off our society will be,' said Korrell, who is representing a group of parents fighting a Seattle School District race-based assignment policy. "Senate Bill 6268 and its companion, House Bill 2700, only address admissions to public colleges and universities. "The bills would permit admissions policies to consider an applicant's race, color, ethnicity or national origin to promote diversity as long as:
"Initiative 200 was promoted as a civil-rights measure that would create a 'colorblind' society. Opponents, who included a wide swath of elected, business and education officials, predicted it would be detrimental to the public workplace and college campuses. "Undergraduate enrollment of racial minorities, however, did not drop dramatically, and at some schools, minority enrollment rebounded to pre-I-200 levels. "The number of black and Latino students in last year's freshman class at the University of Washington, for example, has surpassed 1998 levels for both groups. Over the past six years, the proportion of black and Latino freshmen had dipped, but last year the percentages were similar to 1998's. "Racial minorities in 2003, excluding Asian Americans, represented 8.9 percent - or 447 students - of the freshman class. "The number of black freshmen at Washington State University dropped by 20 students from 2002 to 2003. But WSU's freshman class now generally mirrors what the first-year class looked like before 1998. Racial minorities in 2003 represented 13.7 percent - or 415 students - of the freshman class. "College and university officials had long been waiting for the Supreme Court to clarify whether race could be an admissions factor, ever since the court permitted race as a 'plus factor' in the case of Bakke v. the University of California, Davis, in 1978. "Last summer, the court looked at both undergraduate and law-school admissions at the University of Michigan. It outlawed the use of a points system that used race but upheld a more 'holistic' approach that did not consider race in 'a mechanical way.' "In the fall, more than a dozen deans from the University of Washington urged state legislators to refine state law to ensure a 'vibrant and challenging learning environment in higher education.' "Sen. Don Carlson, R-Vancouver, who supported eliminating racial preferences, is backing Kohl-Welles' proposal. " 'It simply allows the admissions department to look at a student as a whole,' said Carlson, chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee. 'My only concern is that the bill is mischaracterized as overthrowing the initiative.' "State law allows the Legislature to amend a voter-approved initiative two years after its passage. "Debora Merle, Locke's higher-education policy adviser, said the proposed changes would bring state law into compliance with the Supreme Court ruling. Creating campus diversity would be 'a marvelous side benefit,' she said. "But Brooks, an attorney with the Pacific Northwest office of the Pacific Legal Foundation, said voters made it clear in 1998 that they did not want any admissions decisions made through the prism of race or ethnicity. " 'It's abhorrent and offensive that the state Legislature would undertake any kind of effort to thwart the will of the people,' he said. "Tim Eyman, one of the original co-sponsors of I-200, agreed: 'What is it about 58 percent of the voters who approved the initiative that isn't clear?' "The Supreme Court ruled only that race can be considered in admissions, not that it must be, he said." What the bills would do "The bills would permit colleges and universities to consider an applicant's ethnicity or national origin to promote diversity as long as:
From the Seattle Times. Last known link
to the original story: Locke looks to amend I-200
"At the same time, however, the Supreme Court ruled that the affirmative-action policy could not be used as a determinant for who was accepted as an undergraduate. "The 5-4 Supreme Court ruling also held that graduate schools could not use race as a factor in the point system that ranked candidates for admission. "Although the Grutter v. Michigan ruling had no direct impact on schools in Washington state, the proposed amendment to Initiative 200 would affect admissions to state schools. "According to Kirsten Kendrick of the Governor's Communication Office, Locke is planning to submit executive-request legislation proposing that schools be able to consider race in the admissions process. "Since Initiative 200 was passed in Washington in 1998, state schools have not been allowed to give preferential treatment to women or racial minorities in education, hiring and contracting. "W.H. 'Joe' Knight Jr., dean of the UW law school, has been openly advocating the repeal of Initiative 200, urging legislators to bring Washington's affirmative-action regulations closer to the ones laid down by the Supreme Court for Michigan schools. Knight participated in drafting a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Grutter v. Michigan. Minority enrollment in the law school has dropped since Initiative 200 was enacted in 1998. " 'When it comes to affirmative action, we're behind the rest of the country,' commented Tim Washburn, assistant vice president for enrollment services. Washburn said he supported Locke's decision and hoped that the legislation would pass. "The legislative proposal was also warmly welcomed by state Democratic Rep. Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, co-head of the House Committee on Higher Education. " 'I hope [the bill passes]. I think it's an excellent proposal,' Kenney said frankly. 'The bill will be modeled after the Michigan decision. What we're doing is opening the door for equal-opportunity education.' "Although she would not predict whether the bill would pass, Kenney did said she expected the bill to be received well in the House. It may face more opposition in the Senate, which has a Republican majority. From the "UW Daily Online" - Last
known link:
"Locke publicized his desire to revamp Initiative 200 to allow universities to consider racial background as a factor when reviewing applications. " 'I support modifying I-200 to allow for consideration of race without set-asides or quotas,' Locke said at his first news conference of the planned 60-day legislative session that started Monday. "Washington state voters passed I-200 in 1998, prohibiting government entities from discriminating or granting preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. "Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, will be the bill's primary sponsor. Kohl-Welles began work on the proposed bill in July -- one month after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the University of Michigan Law School's policy of considering race as an admission's factor furthered 'a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body.' "Locke wants to change the law to make it consistent with the high court ruling and because he believes diversity is important to education. "The proposed legislation, which is expected to be introduced this month, does not specify sex as a factor for admissions consideration. " 'We've been so careful about drafting this using the same language as the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, there should not be opposition,' Kohl-Welles said. "In the House, Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, D-Seattle, will lead the way for the bill in that chamber. "Nonetheless, not all members are convinced of the bill's necessity. " 'If the Supreme Court has spoken on it, and they've clearly spoken on what regents can do, why do we need more legislation?' asked Rep. Don Cox, R-Colfax, ranking member of the Higher Education Committee. 'We're not committed that this bill is necessary for the good of people in our state or the universities that set the policies.' "Rep. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, agreed. 'Personally, I look at everyone as the same. I don't judge a person by their race.' "Paul J. Lawrence, partner at the Seattle office of Preston Gates & Ellis LLP, said the use of quotas has been illegal since the U.S. Supreme Court's 1978 Bakke ruling. " 'Quota is a word with a lot of baggage that doesn't mean much legally,' said Lawrence, who, on behalf of more than 100 congressional representatives, filed a supportive brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in last year's Michigan case. " 'The real issue is that academic institutions have discretion as to what mix of people best meet their academic mission. The court held that if you take race as one factor in connection with others -- such as GPA (grade point average), economic and geographic diversity -- it is lawful.' " From HeraldNet - Last known link: New Links Courtesy of AADAP.ORG END: I-200 NEW News Jan. 29, 2004 |
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