By Michael A. Olivas There has been a virtual retreat from affirmative action in Texas and elsewhere around the country. Even before the Fifth Circuit struck down a law school affirmative action program in Hopwood v. State of Texas, schools, including private colleges such as Rice University, began to bail out. Rice even rescinded several admissions slated for black students. Remarkably, no foot dragging has occurred in Texas, with the colleges alltoowilling to implement the Fifth Circuit's flawed admissions procedures. Even more remarkably, the decision, limited as it was to the Fifth Circuit, has leached into other states as well, as in Georgia, where the Attorney General announced that he would follow Hopwood.
Race is a fugue that plays throughout U.S. society, including higher education.
In the l990's there is a strong societal backlash against affirmative action, as evidenced by a major political party's platform plan against the principles, the California voters' ballot initiative to outlaw affirmative action in state services and employment, the University of California Regents' action to overturn years of admissions affirmative action, and Congressional action to dismantle a number of federal education programs. As society has become more conservative on affirmative action, so too have the courts and legislatures. Hopwood is bad law and policy, and other states should not follow its lead. Second, to document the value of diversity, professors should begin to record why their classrooms are improved and enriched by diverse students. Whether it is a criminal law class where women and minorities can contribute different perspectives, or an English class where Huck Finn is analyzed, or a Western History class where indigenous people are discussed, the classroom is better for its heterogeneity.