Supreme court upholds affirmative action: higher ed groups cheer decision. (Update).

In a ruling that limits, but does not ban, the consideration of race in the admissions decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the University of Michigan's use of race as a factor in its taw school admissions, but said a point system that gave a boost to minority applicants in undergraduate admissions was unconstitutional.

Higher education groups cheered the ruling as a victory for affirmative action supporters.

"The court's rulings affirm that colleges and universities may take race into account in order to achieve diversity on our campuses," said David L. Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (www.naicu.edu). "This is consistent with the standard established in the Bakke decision, and upholds the view advocated by NAICU and more than 50 other higher education associations in our amicus brief to the court."

Writing on behalf of a coalition of 30 higher ed organizations, John Noonan, chair of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (www.aacu.orq) board of directors, said the court's decision paved the way to increasing access to college for under-represented groups. "The AACU believes deeply that multiracial, multicultural classrooms provide faculty the best environment for teaching students what it means to be human in a troubled and complex world. We are delighted that both court decisions recognize diversity on campus as a compelling state interest," he wrote.

U Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman called the ruling a "tremendous victory" for all of higher education. Coleman said the school would continue its goat of achieving a diverse student population. "The court has provided two important signals," she said. "The first is a green light to pursue diversity in the college classroom. The second is a road map to get us there. We will modify our undergraduate system to comply with [the court's] ruling, but make no mistake: We will find the route that continues our commitment to a richly diverse student body."

Coleman said the new undergraduate policy will be more in line with that of the law school, and predicted the changes would be in effect by fall.

Although the court struck down the university's controversial point system in the undergraduate school's admissions, affirmative action supporters note that the system was unique to U Michigan. Most colleges, therefore, should not have to substantially change their admissions policies based on the ruling and, instead, see it as an endorsement of their current policies.

Other schools plan to take a cue from the ruling to change or modify their own policies. University of Texas President Larry Faulkner said his institution plans to develop a race-based admissions program to be used for the summer and fall of 2004. But Faulkner also said the state should retain its "top 10 percent law" guaranteeing public university admission to Texas high school seniors who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class. That plan has been touted by affirmative action opponents as one alternative to race-based decisions.

While the court's decision may have settled one question in the case of Michigan, the diversity debate is sure to rage on. A survey conducted earlier this year by New York's Marist College Institute for Public Opinion found that while 85 percent of Americans support the idea of Living and Learning among people of different interests, 80 percent of all Americans and 64 percent of minorities oppose race-conscious admissions policies.

"It is clear that an overwhelming majority of the American public understands the importance of a diverse college student body as an integral part of the educational experience, but they do not want race used to achieve this goal," said Marist College President Dennis Murray.

Roger Clegg, an attorney for the Center for Equal Opportunity (www.ceousa.org), a conservative group that led the charge against affirmative action in the Michigan case, said the overriding issue has yet to be resolved. "The Supreme Court has sent everyone back to the trenches--both sides--and we're happy to continue to fight there," he told reporters.

A number of higher education and legal organizations have announced conferences throughout the summer and fall to examine how the court's rulings will affect admissions policies in coming years.