The courts have made it difficult for schools to base and defend affirmative action programs on remedying past discrimination, because the discriminatory events must have specifically occurred at the particular institution, noted Alger in addressing an open meeting of the local AAUP chapter Dec. 2 in the Koessler Library, Michigan League. That's very difficult to prove. The concept of remedying past discrimination presents other problems as well, Alger said, because the college or university must admit fault, and that affects the institution's image and liability. The courts are impatient with this rationale. Concurrent with that, Powell held, is academic freedom, allowing the institution the freedom to decide how to best educate its students.
Faculty are a key component.
They have a critical role in admissions and faculty hiring and in shared governance. Other courts are following Bakke. This is a group-based, stereotypical assumption, when the reality is the exact opposite. Seeing similarities across lines and differences within groups breaks down differences, he said. This turns 'race as a proxy' on its head.