Press Center Virginia Attorney General Advises University on Use of Racial Preferences | Virginia Attorney General Advises University on Use of Racial Preferences |
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Contact: Roger Clegg (703)421-5443 Linda Chavez Says Memo Doesn’t Go Far Enough | ||||
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, June 12, 2006
CONTACT: Roger Clegg (703) 421-5443
Linda Chavez to Testify before Senate Judiciary Committee Tomorrow (Sterling, VA) At the Committee’s request, Center for Equal Opportunity chairman Linda Chavez will testify tomorrow before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She will urge the Committee not to extend Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires many jurisdictions to print ballots in foreign languages. “Section 203 is a bad statute for four reasons,” says Ms. Chavez. “First, it balkanizes our country by sending the message that learning English is not an important part of being an American. Second, it facilitates voter fraud, since generally in order to vote you must become a citizen, and in order to become a citizen you must learn English. Third, printing these ballots is a needless expense--an unfunded mandate where the federal government requires local jurisdictions to waste their taxpayers’ money. Finally, Section 203 is unconstitutional, because there is no connection between it and preventing illegal discrimination of any kind.” Ms. Chavez pointed out that, if the Senate reauthorizes Section 203, it will be acting inconsistently with its own recent vote that declared English to be the “national language.” She also noted that the Bush administration, which has also recently emphasized the importance of recent immigrants learning English, ought to be opposing the reauthorization of Section 203; it is not, however. The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit educational and research foundation that focuses on issues of race and ethnicity. In particular, it studies civil rights, bilingual education, and immigration and assimilation issues.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Center for Equal Opportunity Challenges Accreditation Authority of American Bar Assocation (Sterling, VA) The Center for Equal Opportunity today sent a formal comment to the U.S. Department of Education, urging it “not to renew the law-school accreditation authority of the American Bar Association” unless the Department “receive[s] formal assurance that the ABA will not use that authority to coerce law schools into using racial, ethnic, and sex discrimination and preferences in the selection and treatment of students and faculty.” CEO’s comment letter is available on its website, www.ceousa.org. CEO’s letter was prompted by complaints it has received in the past from law schools about the ABA strong-arming schools into “getting their numbers right,” and, in particular, by the vote last month of the ABA’s Council on the Section of Legal Education, which would revise the current Standard it uses regarding “diversity” at law schools. The new Standard and its Interpretations ratchet up the potential for abuse in a number of ways. They are more blatant in requiring good numbers for both faculty and staff and, most remarkably, state: “The requirement of a constitutional provision or statute that purports to prohibit consideration of gender, race, ethnicity, or national origin in admissions or employment decisions is not a justification for a school’s non-compliance [with the Standard].” CEO president and general counsel Roger Clegg said, “It is outrageous that the ABA should use its accreditation authority to force law schools to engage in politically correct and illegal discrimination. It would be even more outrageous were the Department of Education to allow the ABA to extort such illegal and unfair behavior.” The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational organization that studies issues relating to race and ethnicity nationwide.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Roger Clegg Wednesday, February 08, 2006 (703) 421-5443
Center for Equal Opportunity Praises Justice Department--Southern Illinois Agreement (Sterling, Virginia) Roger Clegg, President of the Center for Equal Opportunity, praised the consent decree announced today by the U.S. Department of Justice and Southern Illinois University, ending the racial exclusivity of three graduate programs at the school. The Justice Department’s investigation had been prompted by a complaint sent by CEO to the department; CEO had first tried to persuade the school to open the programs up to students of all races and ethnicities, but the university “moved too slowly and erratically,” said Clegg. “The Justice Department and Education Department have each now acted against racially exclusive programs,” said Clegg. “They agree that such programs cannot be squared with the Supreme Court’s requirement in the University of Michigan cases that students be given ‘individualized consideration’ rather than treated as automatically worthy or unworthy based on skin color and what country their ancestors came from.” Clegg added that the overwhelming consensus among universities has also been to end racially exclusive programs. “We are sorry that it took the Justice Department to persuade Southern Illinois that a racially exclusive program is untenable, but we are glad that the school’s foot-dragging has been the exception rather than the rule.” The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational organization that focuses on civil rights, bilingual education, and immigration and assimilation issues. [pdf]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Washington DC): Yesterday, a number of internal memoranda written by John Roberts when he was a legal adviser in the Reagan White House were released. Many news stories have portrayed the memos as hostile to women’s rights. For example, the Washington Post’s front-page headline reads, “Roberts Resisted Women’s Rights.” One memorandum in particular, written in response to a inquiry by Linda Chavez--then Director of Public Liaison at the White House, now President of the Center for Equal Opportunity--has drawn much press attention. In response, Ms. Chavez today released this statement: “John Roberts’s comment in one memorandum that ‘Some might question whether encouraging homemakers to become lawyers contributes to the common good,’ was obviously a joke at the expense of lawyers, not a sexist slam. It is ludicrous to suppose that Mr. Roberts would make a sexist remark to the person who was, after all, then the highest ranking woman on the White House staff--and a working mom to boot. “Second, and more substantively, it is absurd for reporters to equate rejection of ‘comparable worth’ with opposition to ‘women’s rights,’ as a number of news stories implicitly or explicitly do. The largely discredited concept of comparable worth would ignore the marketplace and require employers to set wages depending on a bureaucratic calculation of a job’s worth. Mr. Roberts was not alone in rejecting such central planning. I opposed it when I was director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the Commission itself recommended its rejection, as did the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit--probably the nation’s most liberal--in a decision written by Anthony Kennedy, now a Supreme Court Justice.”
The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education organization that focuses on civil rights, bilingual education, and immigration and assimilation issues nationwide. -- 30 --
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Edward Blum
Voting Rights Act Experts Available (Sterling, Virginia) The Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) announces the availability of CEO experts to discuss issues surrounding the reauthorization of section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Since 1965, section 5 of the VRA requires all or parts of 16 states to receive permission from the courts or the Department of Justice before any changes in voting procedures can be made. This section expires in August 2007. The following persons are available to answer questions and offer opinions on the VRA. Edward Blum, senior fellow at CEO, facilitated the legal challenge to many racially gerrymandered voting districts across the country since 1993. Abigail Thernstrom, board member of CEO and co-chair of the US Commission on Civil Rights, is the author of Whose Votes Count?(1987), a critical examination of the changes the courts and congress have made to the VRA. Roger Clegg, general counsel at CEO, worked in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice from 1987 to 1991. Linda Chavez, president of CEO and former director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, has written extensively on the minority language provisions of the VRA.
14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443 • www.ceousa.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, December 8, 2004 CONTACT:
David Gersten
Study Finds Admissions Discrimination at Complaints against Schools Have Been Filed with U.S. Education Department (Sterling, Virginia) Following the news story this morning that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has received complaints about admissions discrimination at the University of Virginia, William & Mary law school, and North Carolina State University, the Virginia Association of Scholars and the Center for Equal Opportunity released today a new study of the role of race and ethnicity in admissions at the three schools. The study — written by VAS Chairman David J. Armor and based on data obtained from the schools through freedom-of-information requests — found that race played a decisive role in the admissions process at all three schools. Preferences favoring African Americans were especially prominent at the University of Virginia and William & Mary law school, and significant though weaker at North Carolina State. The study is available on request and will be posted at www.nas.org. NAS and VAS worked with CEO in drafting the information requests, and CEO had done earlier studies (available at www.ceousa.org/edprefs.html) finding similar evidence of discrimination at the schools involved. NAS president Steve Balch stated: “Public universities that continue to discriminate on the basis of race and ethnicity are on notice that they will not be able to do so in secret. NAS will continue to demand that the presence of such discrimination be made public for as long as it continues.” CEO president Linda Chavez agreed. “The public has the right to know if its taxpayer-supported schools are treating students differently on account of their skin color or where their ancestors came from. And where illegal discrimination is occurring, schools are on notice that it will be uncovered and legal action will be taken.” Today’s study provides strong evidence that the Supreme Court’s guidelines set out in the 2003 University of Michigan cases are not being followed. NAS and CEO are sending a copy of the study to the Center for Individual Rights, the litigating organization that challenged the use of admission preferences at Michigan. CEO will also share the results of the study with OCR, with whom CEO has pending complaints against William & Mary law school and North Carolina State University, based on its earlier studies. OCR is also investigating a complaint against the University of Virginia, according to a story today in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The data are for the class that entered in Fall 2003, just after the Supreme Court’s decisions that summer in the Michigan cases. Because that class had already been admitted when the decisions were handed down, VAS is now obtaining the data for the schools’ Fall 2004 entering classes, and plans to release a follow-up study. NAS affiliates in over twenty states have filed freedom-of-information requests with public universities this year, demanding any documents that reveal how race and ethnicity are used in determining admissions. In selected cases where schools admit to using preferences, NAS has followed up by requesting raw admissions data. NAS is America’s foremost higher education reform group. CEO is a nonprofit, Section 501(c)(3) nonpartisan research and educational organization based in Sterling, Virginia.
--30-- 14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, December 7, 2004 CONTACT:
David Gersten
Notes Their Distinguished Records
(Sterling, Virginia) Linda Chavez, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, praised President Bush’s announcement yesterday that he is nominating Gerald Reynolds to be the new chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and Abigail Thernstrom to be the new vice chairman. Chavez was the commission’s staff director during the Reagan administration from 1983-1985. “Reynolds and Thernstrom are first-rate choices,” said Chavez. “Reynolds has a distinguished career in both public and private practice.” Chavez singled out, in particular, Reynolds’s service as legal counsel at the Center for Equal Opportunity from 1995-1997 and as the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Education Department in the Bush administration’s first term. “Abigail Thernstrom is a brilliant social scientist and a dear personal friend,” Chavez continued. Thernstrom’s works include Whose Votes Count?: Affirmative Action and Minority Voting Rights, America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible, and No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning. Thernstrom has been on the Commission since 2000, and is on the Center for Equal Opportunity’s board of directors. The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, Section 501(c)(3) nonpartisan research and educational organization based in Sterling, Virginia; it studies public policy issues involving race and ethnicity.
14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, June 23, 2004 CONTACT:
David Gersten
Suggests Legislative Ban on University Discrimination on Anniversary of Grutter and Gratz
--30-- 14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saturday, June 5, 2004 CONTACT:
David Gersten CHAVEZ CALLS ON WAL-MART TO BACK OFF QUOTA ANNOUNCEMENT Says New Policy Would Violate the Civil Rights Laws
14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443
Advisory
Tuesday, February 17, 2004 CONTACT: David Gersten (703) 421-5443
CEO PROPOSES “RACIAL PREFERENCE DISCLOSURE” LEGISLATION
14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443
Advisory
Monday, August 18, 2003 CONTACT: David Gersten (703) 421-5443
CEO FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST RICE UNIVERSITY
Asks Department of Education to Bar Reinstatement of Racial Preferences
In the letter, CEO points out that the Supreme Court’s recent decision involving the University of Michigan law school requires universities to consider racially neutral alternatives prior to using preferences based on race or ethnicity. Rice has not only considered but used such alternatives since a federal court of appeals in Texas banned preferences in 1996, and those alternatives have resulted in Rice having essentially the same percentage of African Americans that were admitted to the University of Michigan law school and nearly triple the number of Hispanics. Thus, the letter concludes that for Rice to use preferences “in spite of a lack of any need to do so” violates the law. It asks OCR to investigate Rice’s announced new policy and require it to reembrace a nonpreferential approach. CEO president Linda Chavez said: “We were disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this summer to allow racial and ethnic admissions preferences, but the Court did at least put some significant limits on such discrimination. Universities ignore those limits at their peril.” Chavez pointed out that CEO has already filed complaints with OCR regarding racially exclusive programs, which she said violate the Supreme Court’s requirement that students be given “individualized consideration.” She said: “I promise you that CEO will work on its own and with other organizations to ensure that the Court’s limits on racial preferences are followed in all respects.” The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational organization that studies civil rights, bilingual education, and immigration and assimilation issues nationwide.
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14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443 Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, June 18, 2003 CONTACT: David Gersten (703) 421-5443
CEO Experts Will Comment on Supreme Court Affirmative Action Cases
(Sterling, Virginia) Conservative civil-rights experts from the Center for Equal Opportunity will be available to speak to the media both before and after the Supreme Court announces its decision regarding the University of Michigan affirmative action cases. CEO president and former director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Linda Chavez, will offer interviews to print and radio media. CEO general counsel and co-author of CEO’s amicus brief in the cases, Roger Clegg, will be available for print and radio interviews. Edward Blum, a CEO senior fellow, will be on location at the Court and available for television and print interviews. David Gersten, CEO’s executive director, will also be available for both broadcast and print interviews. CONTACT: Chavez, (703)715-2233 or (443) 206-3167, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Chavez writes a weekly syndicated column that appears in newspapers across the country, and is a political analyst for FOX News Channel. She is one of the nation's leading opponents of affirmative action and can discuss the history and problems of racial preferences as well as expected reaction to the ruling. Chavez authored Out of the Barrio: Toward a New Politics of Hispanic Assimilation (Basic Books 1991). In January 2001, Chavez was President George W. Bush’s nominee for Secretary of Labor until she withdrew her name from consideration. CONTACT: Clegg, (703) 421-5443, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Clegg is one of the nation’s leading experts on legal issues arising from civil rights laws--including the problems in higher education created by affirmative action. Having worked closely with litigators and the Bush administration before the case, Clegg can talk about the arguments used by both sides and how the ruling will change college admissions. A former Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Reagan and Bush administrations, Clegg held the second highest position in the Civil Rights Division (1987-91). CONTACT: Blum, (703) 327-4533 or (703) 505-1922, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Blum’s areas of expertise include civil rights policy analysis. He is able to describe the difficulties in winning a Supreme Court case, how proponents of affirmative action are likely to respond, and why this ruling will affect more than just colleges. Prior to joining CEO, he was the director of legal affairs at the Sacramento-based American Civil Rights Institute, and chairman of the Houston-based Campaign for a Color-Blind America, Legal Defense and Educational Foundation. In those capacities, he facilitated the legal challenge to race-based school admissions policies throughout the country. CONTACT: Gersten, (703) 421-5443 or (703) 431-1353, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Gersten has been a leading activist in the campaign to remove race as a factor in admissions and can talk about the practical implications of the decision and the likely response of universities, college students, and the Bush administration. He has spoken on college campuses throughout the country and has appeared on numerous TV and radio programs to discuss equal opportunity policies. The Center for Equal Opportunity — based in Sterling, Virginia — is a nonprofit research and educational organization that studies civil rights, bilingual education, and immigration issues nationwide.
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14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, June 11, 2003
CONTACT: David Gersten
CEO Uncovers More Discrimination at Virginia Tech
(Sterling, Virginia) The Center for Equal Opportunity has uncovered over 60 racially discriminatory programs at Virginia Tech, in addition to at least 10 such programs that were earlier identified by the state Attorney General’s office. CEO found these programs in the course of responding to a request from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which is investigating a complaint against Virginia Tech filed in April by CEO. “The amount of discrimination that is occurring at Virginia Tech is appalling,” said CEO president Linda Chavez. “The school needs to reinstate its ban on racial and ethnic discrimination in its programs,” she said. The programs that CEO has identified discriminate on the basis of race and ethnicity in a variety of contexts, ranging from financial aid and scholarships to internships and mentoring. The programs permeate the university and are found at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, in the sciences, humanities, engineering, and elsewhere. CEO has asked that OCR include the various identified programs in its investigation. The memorandum listing the discriminatory programs, sent this week by CEO to OCR, is posted on CEO’s website, www.ceousa.org.
The Center for Equal Opportunity is a Sterling, Virginia–based, nonprofit research and educational organization that studies civil rights, bilingual education, and immigration issues nationwide. --30-- 14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 CONTACT: Roger Clegg (703) 421-5443 Center for Equal Opportunity Posts Study on the University of Michigan’s Faulty Report Study Details UM’s Distortion of “Diversity” Data
(Sterling, Virginia) The Center for Equal Opportunity posted on its website today a study by Drs. Robert Lerner and Althea Nagai of the survey data that the University of Michigan was recently revealed to have ignored in trumpeting the benefits of “diversity” to the public and the courts in the litigation surrounding its use of racial and ethnic admission preferences.
The 1990s survey data were collected by the University of Michigan as part of its study of the impact of UM’s racial and ethnic admission preferences. It turns out that the data were inconsistent with the rosy picture it later painted to the courts of the benefits of a “diverse” student body. Writer and researcher Chetly Zarko used the freedom-of-information laws to obtain these data, which are analyzed in the report now prepared by Drs. Lerner and Nagai. The amicus brief filed last January by CEO pointed out that it would be dangerous for the Supreme Court to rely on social science data purporting to “prove” improved educational outcomes as a justification for something as divisive and unfair as racial and ethnic discrimination, because such data are almost never conclusive and nearly always manipulable. The recent revelation that UM has actually ignored and distorted data shows that CEO’s brief is correct. Both the Lerner & Nagai study and the CEO brief are posted at www.ceousa.org. The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational organization that studies civil rights, bilingual education, and immigration issues nationwide. --30-- 14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, January 16, 2003
CEO Files Brief with the Supreme Court in Michigan CasesCONTACT: Roger Clegg (703) 421-5443 Urges Court to Reject “Diversity” Justification for Racial and Ethnic Discrimination
(Sterling, VA) — Today the Center for Equal Opportunity filed a brief with the Supreme Court, urging the justices to reject the University of Michigan’s use of racial and ethnic preferences in its admission decisions. The American Civil Rights Institute and the Independent Women’s Forum also joined the brief, which was drafted by Mark Pickrell and CEO general counsel Roger Clegg. The brief has been posted on CEO’s website, www.ceousa.org.
CEO’s brief urges the Court to resolve the fundamental issue in the case, namely whether a desire for greater student body “diversity” justifies racial and ethnic discrimination. The brief argues that such discrimination is widespread, citing 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. The studies are also posted on CEO’s website. The brief argues that, if the diversity issue is not resolved, then this discrimination will almost certainly continue. The brief then discusses why the diversity rationale should be rejected. In particular, it points out that the rationale hinges on dubious social science evidence, and notes that the same kind of “evidence” was used to justify segregation. CEO president Linda Chavez stressed the importance of the issues presented, stating "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." Chavez also said, “An end to the use of racial and ethnic preferences in university admissions is essential for the continued progress of race 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." --30--
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, January 16, 2003 CONTACT: Roger Clegg (703) 421-5443 Conservatives Still Worried about President’s Brief on Racial Preferences Applause for yesterday’s statement is superseded by apprehension over what the brief will say.
(Sterling, VA)— Linda Chavez, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, called on conservatives to hold their praise for the President’s racial preferences policy until they read the President’s brief when it is filed sometime Thursday evening.
--30--"Actions speak louder than words and, while the President’s statement Wednesday was praiseworthy, his comments will mean nothing if his brief leaves the door open for race to be used in college admissions.” President Bush announced yesterday, in general terms, that his administration will be filing a brief today with the Supreme Court that argues against the constitutionality of the University of Michigan's racially and ethnically biased admissions process. He did not say, however, that his brief will argue against schools using the "diversity rationale" to demonstrate a compelling interest in using race in admissions. Universities commonly claim that they have a compelling interest in achieving a student body that is racially diverse and therefore are justified in discriminating on the basis of race in their selection of students. Despite his strong statement against racial preferences, the President may still file a brief that claims that the University of Michigan’s use of quotas was unconstitutional, while at the same time suggesting that seeking a “diverse” student body justifies using race. "If the court leaves any door open on taking race into account," Chavez said, "you'll just have more and more creative attempts from university administrators to accomplish what they have been doing for years." Chavez called on the president to make clear in his brief that a desire for a particular racial and ethnic mix in the student body does not justify discrimination in order to achieve it. CEO’s Vice President Roger Clegg said, “If the brief doesn't urge the Court to reject the diversity justification for discrimination, then it may turn out to do more harm than good.” The brief doesn't have to be filed until 11:59 P.M. today, allowing just enough time for the President’s staff to adjust the brief’s arguments to address the concerns of conservatives.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, January 3, 2003 CONTACT: Roger Clegg (703) 421-5443 Bush Is On Record as Opposing Racial and Ethnic Preferences Chavez and Connerly Call on Bush to Stand by His Principles
(Sterling, VA) — Linda Chavez of the Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) and Ward Connerly of the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) called on President Bush today to oppose racial and ethnic preferences before the Supreme Court, and stressed Bush’s record of consistent opposition to such discrimination.
CEO has posted on its website a questionnaire that then-Governor Bush filled out in 1998 when running for reelection. In it, he was asked whether he agreed or disagreed with the statement “For the sake of obtaining a diversity of viewpoints and experiences, public educational institutions should be allowed to consider the race and ethnicity of applicants.” Governor Bush checked the box marked “Disagree.” In addition, he wrote in the following statement: “I do not support race-based quotas or preferences. Public colleges and universities have an affirmative duty to offer equal opportunity to all applicants. Equal opportunity doesn’t guarantee equal results—but it guarantees that every person will get a fair shot based upon their potential, heart and merit.” Connerly and Chavez called on President Bush to stand by his stated views. They urged him to direct his administration’s lawyers to file briefs with the Supreme Court in two cases involving the University of Michigan’s use of racial and ethnic admission preferences, opposing such discrimination and the school’s argument that a desire for “diversity” trumps the nondiscrimination principle. Chavez and Connerly pointed out that President Bush also stated his opposition to racial and ethnic preferences on at least two occasions when he was running for president. On August 14, 1999, while appearing on CNN’s Evans & Novak, Bush stated: “I want to end quotas, racial preferences, policies that tend to pit one group of people against another. That’s what I mean by ‘affirmative access,’ which stands in stark contrast to a system that says all we got to do is meet some government-imposed and government-defined quota.” During his debate with Al Gore on October 17, 2000, Bush repeated his opposition to quotas, which he said “pit one against another” and are “bad for America.” He reiterated his support, instead, for race-neutral “affirmative access.” “If the Bush administration fails to oppose what the president calls ‘the soft bigotry of low expectations’ at the University of Michigan,” said Chavez, “millions of people—the overwhelming majority of all Americans, of all skin colors and ethnicities—will be deeply disappointed.” Connerly added, “President Bush has proven his leadership mettle in fighting terrorists who hate our way of life. It is now time to defend here at home one of those principles—equal treatment for all Americans—that we are fighting to defend around the globe.” --30-- 14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Roger Clegg Monday, December 2, 2002 (703) 421-5443 Linda Chavez Applauds Supreme Court’s Decision To Grant Review In Racial Preference Cases Says All Races Will Win If Court Ends Discrimination in Admissions
(Sterling, VA)— 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.
--30--"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. 14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443 For Immediate Release: Contact: Roger Clegg July 26, 2002, 2002 (703) 421-5443 Center for Equal Opportunity Challenges Denver School Board to End Bilingual Education
(Sterling, VA) Linda Chavez, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO), sent a report to the Denver Public Schools’ (DPS) Board of Education today, attacking bilingual education and, in particular, its use in Denver.
Chavez said, “The report indicates that Denver public schools are failing in their central duty, which is teaching children the most essential skill for success in America: learning to read and write in English.” The 17-page report — which has been posted on CEO’s website, www.ceousa.org —brings to the board’s attention “disturbing evidence” that “the English acquisition programs of the Denver Public Schools are not working.” It “summarizes the information collected in recent on-site visits and analyzes data from students’ performance on recent standardized tests.” CEO had been conducting on-site visits at a number of schools until suddenly it was refused further access by the DPS in 2000. University of Colorado professor Ernest House, the court-appointed official monitor for Denver’s bilingual programs, ended his three-year term this year but has recently been asked to resume his classroom observations this Fall. House’s monitoring is part of an existing 1999 agreement between DPS and the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. The standardized-test data referenced in the CEO study were collected by the state of Colorado. The report asserts that Denver’s current English acquisition programs raise both policy and legal problems. Chavez has sent a copy of the report to the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. Linda Chavez grew up in Denver and graduated from the University of Colorado. In the summer of 2000, Chavez spearheaded an effort by local activists to place a ballot initiative before Colorado voters that would have ended bilingual education in the state. The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, Section 501 (c) (3) research and educational organization based in Sterling, Virginia. It studies bilingual education, civil rights, and immigration issues nationwide. --30-- 14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443 For Immediate Release: Contact: Roger Clegg July 15, 2002 (703) 421-5443 WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT RULES UNANIMOUSLY FOR CEO Court Orders University of Wisconsin to Release Data for Race Preference Study
(Sterling, VA) The Center for Equal Opportunity announced today that it will seek data from the University of Wisconsin made available by a July 2nd ruling of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Last Tuesday the court ruled unanimously that the University of Wisconsin must release admissions data sought by the Center for Equal Opportunity. CEO sought the data to publish a study documenting the extent to which the university uses racial and ethnic preferences in its admissions decisions.
--30--CEO president Linda Chavez praised the court’s decision. “The Wisconsin Supreme Court has unequivocally confirmed that the people of Wisconsin have the right to know whether their taxpayer-supported institutions are discriminating on the basis of skin color and ancestry,” she said. “It was outrageous that the university tried to keep these policies secret, but we hope that this outrage has now ended.” The university had claimed that the privacy interests of students would be compromised if the data CEO sought was made public. But Chavez called this claim “disingenuous,” since CEO had made clear from the beginning, and the state Supreme Court recognized, that all personally identifiable data should be redacted before any information was released. The court’s decision pointed out that CEO has frequently obtained the same sort of admissions data from other schools all over the country. Indeed, CEO has published studies documenting the use of racial and ethnic preferences at 47 undergraduate institutions, 6 medical schools, and, most recently, 3 law schools. The studies have consistently found overwhelming evidence that schools engage in severe discrimination, and there has never been a claim that anyone’s privacy interests were violated. CEO’s studies are available on its website at www.ceousa.org. The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501 (c)(3) research and educational organization that studies civil rights, bilingual education, and immigration issues nationwide. 14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443 For Immediate Release: Contact: David Gersten June 25, 2002 (703) 421-5443 FED REQUIRES BANKS TO ASK RACE OFHOME-LOAN PHONE APPLICANTSLinda Chavez Says New Rule Will Result in “More Discrimination, Not Less”
(Sterling, VA) Last Friday, the Federal Reserve Board announced it will, for the first time, require lenders to ask telephone home-loan applicants their race, ethnicity, and sex. Today, Center for Equal Opportunity president Linda Chavez predicted the new requirement will lead to more discrimination. The Fed announcement and links to the new rule are located at www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/bcreg/2002/20020621.
“There is no good reason to require lenders to inquire into a prospective homeowner’s race,” said Chavez. “The end result is going to be more discrimination, not less.” She pointed out that up until Friday many lenders would not even know the race of an applicant, but now they will. “I suspect that some people hope that this step will result in lenders adopting de facto quotas in their lending,” she added. CEO had opposed this decision, for the reasons discussed in a column by general counsel Roger Clegg on National Review Online, at www.nationalreview.com/clegg/clegg021402.asp. While the Federal Reserve Board claims that such rules will “provide data that assist in identifying possible discriminatory lending patterns and enforcing anti-discrimination statutes,” Clegg argues that by giving lenders racial data, minority telephone applicants “have made racial discrimination possible when before it wasn't.” The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501 (c)(3) research and educational organization that studies civil rights, bilingual education, and immigration issues nationwide. --30-- 14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Roger Clegg Thursday, May 6, 2002 (703) 421-5443 Parents Challenge Albuquerque Public Schoolsin US Court of Appeals
(Denver, CO)The U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral argument today in Carbajal v. Albuquerque Public Schools, in which a number of parents are challenging APS’s bilingual education program. The Center for Equal Opportunity learned of the parents’ complaints and helped find legal counsel for them.
CEO president Linda Chavez said, “The parents challenging the Albuquerque Public Schools’ bilingual education program on behalf of their children are to be applauded for their courage and tenacity. They are fighting a politically correct but inept bureaucracy that would prefer to segregate Latino children and provide them a substandard education rather than teach them the most important part of any American student’s curriculum—the ability to read and write English fluently.” The parents assert that the New Mexico Bilingual Multicultural Education Act unconstitutionally classifies children according to national origin and then segregates them into programs with a different substantive curriculum. They further demonstrate that this discrimination is aggravated by the way in which APS administers the program. In addition, the parents argue that APS’s bilingual education program fails to teach children English effectively and therefore violates the federal Equal Education Opportunities Act. Finally, they show that APS’s failure to provide notice to parents when their children are placed in the program violates an agreement between APS and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational organization that focuses on civil rights, bilingual education, and immigration issues nationwide. --30-- 14 Pidgeon Hill Drive, Suite 500 • Sterling, VA 20165 • (703) 421-5443  Advisory FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Roger Clegg Thursday, May 2, 2002 (703) 421-5443 Virginia Attorney General AdvisesUniversities on Use of Racial PreferencesLinda Chavez Says Memo Doesn’t Go Far Enough
The Center for Equal Opportunity today praised the memorandum that State Solicitor William H. Hurd, of the office of Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, has sent to all Virginia state universities, telling them that racial and ethnic preferences in admissions and scholarships can no longer be justified on the grounds that they “remedy” past discrimination.
CEO president Linda Chavez also said, however, that the memorandum, dated April 22, doesn’t go far enough, because it leaves open a possibility that schools could try to justify such discrimination on the grounds that it furthers “diversity.” “Mr. Hurd’s memorandum is a giant step toward getting rid of the racial and ethnic discrimination that exists at too many Virginia state schools,” said Chavez. “But he should have made it clear that such discrimination cannot be justified under any circumstances.” Hurd’s memorandum does not take a position on whether the diversity rationale can ever justify discrimination, but does make clear that, even if it can, such preferences must still pass a difficult, five-part “narrow tailoring” test. Chavez said the diversity rationale “rests entirely on racial and ethnic stereotyping. It is wrong to assume that someone has a particular outlook or has had a certain set of life experiences just because of that person’s skin color or where his or her ancestors came from.” The Center for Equal Opportunity has published a series of studies, starting in January 1999, documenting evidence of racial and ethnic admissions discrimination at Virginia state universities. Ten undergraduate institutions have been studied, along with a study of discrimination at the three Virginia state law schools that was released last week. The studies are available on CEO’s website, www.ceousa.org. CEO has called on the Virginia schools to end their discrimination, and has urged and met with various state government officials to encourage them to do so as well. In 1999, Chavez met with then-Lieutenant Governor John Hager, and last week CEO general counsel Roger Clegg met with state Secretary of Education Belle Wheelan. CEO has also brought instances of scholarship discrimination to the attention of the state attorney general’s office. The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan Section 501(c)(3) research and educational organization that studies civil rights, bilingual education, and immigration issues nationwide. |
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