Racial Discrimination at the University of Michigan

In Michigan this November the voters are deciding whether to pass the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (Proposal 2 on the ballot). As the ballot language says, it is

A proposal to amend the state constitution to ban affirmation action programs that give preferential treatment to groups or individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin for public employment, education or contracting purposes.

Only time will tell what the voters of the State of Michigan will decide, but one thing is for sure. There is plenty of preferential treatment going on at the University of Michigan. Writes Roger Clegg,

Severe discrimination favoring black applicants over white and Asian applicants was found at all three schools [undergraduate, law school, and medical school] in all four years for which data were received... Hispanics were also favored, but by less; frequently whites were given preferences over Asians, although to a still smaller extent.

The full report on racial discrimination at the University of Michigan is given here(pdf).

In Michigan the voters have a choice. They can vote to continue the current system under which, for 2005,

the median black admittee’s SAT score was 1160, versus 1260 for Hispanics, 1350 for whites, and 1400 for Asians.

(Boy, you sure have to be smart to get into the University of Michigan if you are an Asian.)

On the other hand, voters can vote to judge candidates for university on the basis of their test scores and the content of their character.