Center for Equal Opportunity - Linda Chavez Applauds Supreme Court’s Decision To Grant Review In Racial Preference Cases

Home

Press Center

Linda Chavez Applauds Supreme Court’s Decision To Grant Review In Racial Preference Cases

Contact: Roger Clegg
(703)421-5443

Says All Races Will Win If Court Ends Discrimination in Admissions

Linda Chavez, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, applauded the decision by the Supreme Court today to grant review in Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, two cases challenging the use of racial and ethnic preferences in university admissions.

       "The Court acted wisely in granted Barbara Grutter's and Jennifer Gratz’s petitions," said Chavez. "Indeed, it could hardly have done otherwise. The confusion among the lower courts makes review by the nation's highest court essential."

       Chavez stressed the importance of the issue presented. "Racial and ethnic discrimination in university admissions is a serious, nationwide problem." She said that a series of studies by the Center for Equal Opportunity "has established that preferential admissions are both wide and deep. A great many colleges use them, and the degree of preference awarded is often dramatic, particularly among the more selective schools."

       The studies that CEO has conducted--at 57 undergraduate institutions in eight different states (as well as the service academies at West Point and Annapolis), at medical schools in six different states, and at three Virginia law schools--are all available on CEO's website (www.ceousa.org). Also posted on the website is the amicus brief filed by CEO in the Grutter case, urging the Court to grant review.

       Finally, Chavez said that she hopes the Court uses the Grutter and Gratz cases to ban the use of racial and ethnic preferences in university admissions. She said that such a ban "is essential for the continued progress of racial relations in the United States. If preferences are ended, all races will win. If they aren't, we will all lose. And none will lose more than the supposed 'beneficiaries' of such discrimination. African Americans and Latinos are now being told that they cannot be expected to succeed unless they are held to a lower standard than whites and Asians. That is insulting, and undermines the mutual respect that is essential in an increasingly multiethnic, multiracial America."

The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501 (c)(3) research and educational organization based in Sterling, Virginia that studies civil rights, bilingual education, and immigration issues nationwide.

Newsletter Sign-up

Support CEO

Purchase

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION WATCH

Newsletter Sign-up

Support CEO

Purchase