Free Republic

<p>Seven months after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the University of Michigan's undergraduate affirmative action policy, the number of applications from blacks, Hispanics and American Indians is down 23 percent from the same time last year. And the number of those admitted is down 30 percent.</p>

Victory for Free Speech at William & Mary WILLIAMSBURG, VA— After pressure from and public exposure by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the College of William & Mary (W&M) has reversed course and allowed an "affirmative action bake sale" to proceed without interference. A student group, the Sons of Liberty, saw its satirical protest unlawfully halted by W&M in November; it was one of many such protests nationwide that were shut down on campuses this past fall. While W&M allowed the group's bake sale to proceed without incident this time, W&M President Timothy J. Sullivan issued a...

SEATTLE - Campus bake sales by conservatives who oppose affirmative-action are cooking up discord — and complaints about restrictions on free speech. Organizers charge white students $1 for a cookie, while blacks and other minorities pay 25 to 95 cents. Doughnuts are available for 50 cents to everyone except Asian Americans and whites, who cannot purchase them. Unfair? So is affirmative action, organizers contend. "It's a good example of what affirmative action does, judging people based on race," said Jason Chambers, president of the University of Washington College Republicans, which held a sale in October that shut down when some...

Senate Democratic staffers and a judge appointed by President Carter made extraordinary efforts last year to ensure that a liberal majority sat on the federal appeals court that heard the Michigan affirmative action cases, according to internal Democratic staff memos.

<p>BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (AP) -- A woman said she repeatedly gave investigators the name of serial killings suspect Derrick Todd Lee during the months that three women were murdered, but she was ignored.</p> <p>Collette Dwyer, a firefighter, said authorities ignored her tip because Lee is black and police said they were looking for a white man.</p>

In the frenzy over Rush Limbaugh's comments on ESPN, it's easy to overlook one very significant thing. Namely, that such an incident was brewing for some time. It just took a lightning-rod like Limbaugh to ignite it. Indeed, the episode was merely a symptom of an underlying cause. To put things in perspective: Not long ago, before the plague of political correctness engulfed our society, professional sports (unlike collegiate sports, which has been ravaged by the egregious interpretation of Title IX) stood out as perhaps a final bastion of sanity. For all its well-documented faults, big-league sports epitomized a wonderful...

For distribution, pls. “The [CA] Attorney General’s glaring omission of this exemption could be very misleading to the voters,” commented Ward Connerly, chairman of the Yes on Prop 54 campaign. Who is the Attorney General? Mr. D-Bill Lockyer. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/stevechapman/sc20010607.shtml Though Lay has not been convicted of any crime, Bill Lockyer says, "I would love to personally escort Lay to an 8-by-10 cell that he could share with a tattooed dude who says, 'Hi, my name is Spike, honey.'" But on the subject of CA's mysterious "bookkeeping practices" throughout the educational and government bodies, and of course, the significant omission from...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dave Crater, 719-532-0546, crater@daveschultheis.com August 11, 2003 Rep. Dave Schultheis Applauds Owens, Jones on Affirmative Action Colorado State Rep. Dave Schultheis (R-Colorado Springs) today applauded Gov. Bill Owens and state Sen. Ed Jones in their opposition to race-based admissions criteria in Colorado colleges and universities. “I am optimistic that we will be able to address this issue in the 2004 legislative session,” Schultheis said. “Gov. Owens hit the nail on the head. It’s racial discrimination to say a child should get a head start because of his or her race.” The Colorado Commission on Higher Education...

<p>Joining the legions of national figures weighing in on California's wild gubernatorial recall, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Sunday that his civil rights organization will work in the next two months on a ``double no'' campaign to defeat both the recall and Proposition 54, which would ban the collection of racial data in California.</p>

Poll: Many believe affirmative action in college admissions will end 08/11/2003 Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO - Most Americans agree that in 25 years, colleges and universities should no longer need to look at an applicant's race to make sure there is racial and ethnic diversity on campus, a new poll finds. Seventy percent of respondents said they agree with Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who wrote in June that although the Constitution allows race to be a factor in college admissions now, there should be no need for that consideration in a quarter-century. The survey for the American Bar...

Californian angst over affirmative action poll By Hugh Davies in Los Angeles (Filed: 06/08/2003) A prominent black conservative's attempt to create what he calls a "colour-blind" California is causing tension in the already angst-ridden "recall" election of the state governor, Gray Davis. Ward Connerly, 64, a wealthy Republican on the board of regents at the University of California, has had an anti-affirmative action initiative put on the Oct 7 ballot. Petitioners have forced the election that could remove Mr Davis, a Democrat, from office before his due term expires. Californians will now also be asked to decide if the state...

Diversity programs are coming under intensified scrutiny amid a weak economy and new research showing that racial and gender diversity has virtually no impact on bottom-line performance. A non-profit group set up in 1996 by CEOs and human resource professionals asked a team of researchers from a cross section of universities to embark on a large-scale field research project on the relationship between gender and racial diversity and business performance. Researchers initiated discussions with more than 20 Fortune 500 companies. Ultimately, all but four declined to participate. Based on those initial discussions, researchers found none of the 20 companies had...

When the Supreme Court ruled June 23 that state schools could use skin color as a factor in weighing whether to admit or reject applicants, businessman and conservative civil rights activist Ward Connerly was disgusted. "Civil rights cease to have any meaning according to this incoherent, poorly reasoned decision," he told HUMAN EVENTS. Connerly said the court's decision in Grutter v. Bollinger—which upheld an admissions policy at the University of Michigan Law School that used race as a factor in promoting the admission of blacks and Hispanics—effectively gave each state the power to determine the rights of its citizens based...

<p>The Supreme Court decision that affirmed the use of race as an admissions criterion at the University of Michigan law school already has conservative ideologues busily plotting ways to eliminate affirmative action. The Center for Individual Rights, which backed the white women who brought lawsuits against the university, threatened more lawsuits and ''close scrutiny'' of affirmative action plans. But it is California's Ward Connerly who's really audacious. He announced this week that he wants to export to Michigan California's Proposition 209, the measure he pushed that outlawed the use of race in admissions, employment and contracting.</p>

Outrage as black judge attacks affirmative action By David Rennie in Washington (Filed: 26/06/2003) Clarence Thomas, the only black judge on the United States Supreme Court, has triggered liberal anger by denouncing positive discrimination as a "cruel farce". He said it leaves successful blacks marked with the lifelong stigma that they only succeeded because of their skin colour. Justice Thomas, a hate figure for many black intellectuals, issued a blistering dissent to this week's supreme court ruling upholding the right of universities to consider race as a factor when admitting students. His remarks drew deeply on his own history as...

The supreme court just decreed that merit, effort and achievement don't count! They have condemned American technical workers who don't belong to any preferred group to a life of unemployment. American computer and engineering jobs are flying over to India faster than we can run to the unemployment office. A major reason for this is that Indian technical universities actually teach!There are no 'queer studies' courses in Indian technical universities; no 'womyns studies', no 'memories of slavery' courses. They teach the subject matter and students are expected to learn. There is strict ranking of students according to their achievement. This...

Since race is now going to be used as a basis for determining the privileges an individual will get from the government, business and colleges, there is a definite need for the government to define just what is meant by race. Just exactly what is 'black', 'african-american', 'hispanic', 'pacific islander' and all the other labels the government has used to determine who gets special privileges? The government now has the obligation to define race and to issue government id cards specifying one's race. These cards will be far more important than passports and drivers' licenses since they will have the...

The SCOTUS got it half right which means they got it all wrong. By refusing to stike down college preferences given strictly for race, the court has again proven that political correctness has run amok in this country. The issue is not complicated, some people see minorities at a disadvantage in this country due to slavery which ended 150 years ago. The social programs which have throw billions of dollars at this 'problem' for over 50 years are not considered enough. What is enough? Excuse me for being foolish but I think anyone in this counrty can do anything they...

Questions unanswered, questions raised By Kimani Jefferson On Monday the Supreme Court did very little to define what role affirmative action ought to play in our society. In the end, the result was mixed. On the one hand, the University of Michigan's undergraduate program was struck down 6-3, ending a policy of equating simply being a minority with a perfect SAT score (and them some). On the other hand, it upheld the university's Law School program, allowing minorities a "plus" status. My opinion is unequivocal, whether it be a "plus" or an outright absurdity, any affirmative action program that uses...

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the only black member of the court and an opponent of affirmative action programs, disagreed with the court's decision Monday to uphold a University of Michigan law school program that seeks to boost minority enrollment. He agreed with the court's finding that a similar undergraduate program is unconstitutional. "Because I wish to see all students succeed whatever their color, I share, in some respect, the sympathies of those who sponsor the type of discrimination advanced by the University of Michigan Law School," Thomas said, dissenting, in part, from the 5-4 decision upholding the...