Opinion ID: 1267759
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Special Admission Program

Text: The faculty chairman of the special admission committee initially screens the applications of those who seek to enter the University as disadvantaged students, to determine if they may properly be classified as disadvantaged. [8] Those who do not qualify as disadvantaged are referred to the regular admissions committee. If a candidate passes this initial scrutiny, his application is reviewed by the special committee for the purpose of determining whether he should be invited for a personal interview. In making this determination the special committee, unlike the regular committee, does not automatically disqualify an applicant who has a grade point average below 2.5. The committee interviewed 71 out of 297 disadvantaged applicants in 1973 and 88 out of 628 in 1974. The interview is conducted by one faculty member and one student member of the special committee. The file is then reviewed by other members of the special committee, who rate the applicant. The special committee prepares a written summary of the qualifications of the disadvantaged applicants whom it recommends for admission, and the regular committee makes the actual determination whether to accept the recommendation. In practice, the special committee's recommendations are generally followed. The process of recommendation by the special committee and acceptance by the general committee continues until 16 applicants have been admitted under the special program. Bakke had a grade point average of 3.51, and his scores on the verbal, quantitative, science, and general information portions of the Medical College Admission Test (expressed in percentiles) were 96, 94, 97 and 72 respectively. His application warranted an interview in both years for which he applied. In 1973, his combined numerical rating was 468 out of a possible 500, and in 1974 it was 549 out of a possible 600. He was not placed on the alternate list in either year. Some minority students who were admitted under the special program in 1973 and 1974 had grade point averages below 2.5, the minimum required for an interview for those who did not qualify under the special program; some were as low as 2.11 in 1973 and 2.21 in 1974. According to Dr. Lowrey, if an applicant scored lower than the 50th percentile in the science and verbal portions of the Medical College Admission Test, the committee would look very hard at other things that would be positive such as motivation, or some explanation for his low scores. The mean percentage scores on the test of the minority students admitted to the 1973 and 1974 entering classes under the special program were below the 50th percentile in all four areas tested. In addition, the combined numerical ratings of some students admitted under the special program were 20 to 30 points below Bakke's rating. Dr. Lowrey stated in his declaration and deposition that the special admission program was designed to afford preferential treatment to persons who are from disadvantaged backgrounds. He stated further that test scores and grades of minority applicants do not necessarily reflect their capabilities, because their low scores might be attributable to the fact that they were required to work during the school year or that they lacked the reinforcement and support which white middle-class students typically derive from their families, and without such a program, few minorities would qualify for admission to the University. A major purpose of the program, he asserted, was to promote diversity among the student body and the profession and to increase the number of doctors practicing in the minority community, where the need is great. The trial court found that although the special admission program purports to be open to educationally or economically disadvantaged students, and although in 1973 and 1974 some applications for the program were received from members of the white race, only minority students had been admitted under the program since its inception, and members of the white race were barred from participation. The court concluded that the program constitutes invidious discrimination in favor of minority races and against Bakke and others whose applications were evaluated under the regular admission procedure, in violation of their rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The University does not challenge the trial court's finding that applicants who are not members of a minority are barred from participation in the special admission program.