Yet, in recent years, affirmative action programs have come under attack. Scholars, legal experts, educators and spokepersons on all sides of the issue will explore the legal, institutional and cultural factors that are central to the debate over affirmative action. An informed discussion of affirmative action, what we think of it and how we talk about it, seems imperative at the present moment. He and Paul Gewirtz, the Potter Stewart Professor of Constitutional Law, are organizers of the symposium.
All sessions are free and open to the public.
Participants will also discuss the appeal of the language of diversity for proponents of affirmative action and why opponents find it so objectionable. The panelists will look at the university as a prime site of real and symbolic contest in the battle over affirmative action, pitting merit-based selection of students and faculty against selection on the grounds of race or gender. For further information about the conference, call 432-0673.