Is Affirmative Action in Higher Education Outdated?

The Affirmative Action Act was created to ensure that minority groups and women were given the same opportunities in education and employment that were traditionally afforded to white males. According to the National Conferences of State Legislatures, affirmative action is, “…an outcome of the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement, intended to provide equal opportunities for members of minority groups and women in education and employment. In 1961, President Kennedy was the first to use the term "affirmative action" in an Executive Order that directed government contractors to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." The Executive Order also established the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, now known as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)” (NCLS, 2014). Affirmative action was further reinforced in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson when he signed an executive order requiring government contractors to increase the number of minorities that are offered employment.

Even though affirmative action was not outlawed in all circumstances it is often times dealt with on a case by case basis. The case established a pragmatic means of reconciling well-intentioned quota and affirmative action programs with the Constitution's zealous protection of equality (McBride). Since the case was ruled on in 1978, other court cases have been decided on that have reaffirmed Bakke’s affirmative action requirements. In 2003, Grutter v. Bollinger ruled that the University of Michigan Law School’s system of giving race a notable but non-determinative weight in the selection process was “neutral” enough and that Michigan’s efforts to create a diverse student body was “compelling” enough to meet constitutional standards for equality (McBride). However, in Gratz v. Bollinger (2003), a similar but unrelated case, the court beat down Michigan’s Undergraduate affirmative action program for using a points system to judge applicants that favored minorities by handing free points to minority applicants

Roosevelt signed "Executive Order 8802 which outlawed segregationist hiring policies by defense-related industries which held federal contacts" (Sykes, 1995). This order was brought about because of the actions of a Black trade union leader, A. Philip Randolph. During Harry Truman's second term, in 1953, his Committee on Government Contract Compliance urged the Bureau of Employment Security "to act positively and affirmatively to implement the policy of nondiscrimination" (ibid). Finally, after 58 years, the Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, and therefore the "separate, but equal" doctrine with Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. The term "affirmative action" was first used in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson in Executive Order 11246, which mandated federal employees to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin" (ibid). This Executive Order was expanded 2 years later, in 1967, to include affirmative action requirements to cover women. There were two more laws passed in the 1960's to make discrimination illegal. The first of which was the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Within this act, Titles II and VII forbid racial discrimination in "public accommodations" and race and sex discrimination in employment. The next act to make discrimination illegal was the 1965 Voting Rights Act, adopted after a probe by Congress found

& Martinez, 2003). The Supreme Court ruled that the University of California was wrong in the way they approached a special admissions program that was open only to minority applicants (Aguirre Jr. & Martinez, 2003). The ruling argued that the special admissions program violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (Aguirre Jr. & Martinez, 2003). Justice Lewis Powell, Jr. stated in his opinion on the Bakke case that quotas “would hinder rather than further attainment of genuine diversity” (Aguirre Jr. & Martinez, 2003, p. 141). Justice Powell, Jr. also wrote that race is only one part of many factors that an institution can consider in truly achieving a heterogeneous student population (Aguirre Jr. & Martinez, 2003). By siding with Bakke in this case, the Supreme Court essentially outlawed the use of racial quotas in admissions processes in higher education, yet universities took this as it is okay to use race as a selective factor as long as there are no quotas (Aguirre Jr. & Martinez, 2003).

On March 6, 1961 President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, which included a provision that government contractors "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” Affirmative Action policies have always been controversial, largely because of the allegation that they cause employers to give preference in hiring to less-qualified minorities or females over more-qualified white males.

President John F. Kennedy implemented a Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, and issued an executive order in 1961 to deal with discrimination. In his order he referred to not discriminating as "affirmative

Affirmative action sprung up from the Civil Rights movement of the 1950 's/60 's. It was first used as an executive order from President Kennedy in 1961. In 1964, the Civil Right Act banned discrimination based on race, sex, religion or national origin. A year later, President Johnson made an affirmative action policy and said that affirmative action is a way to compensate for slavery ("Affirmative Action" 2016). Minorities were excepted into universities to

In 1967, Johnson expanded the Executive Order to include affirmative action requirements to benefit women and in 1972 affirmative action was implemented for college admissions. Initially, affirmative

Gratz v. Bollinger, was the case that determined the legitimacy of the University of Michigan’s undergraduate affirmative action policy. Jennifer Gratz and Patrick Hamacher, both applied for and were denied admission to the University of Michigan between 1995 and 1997. At the time, to be accepted to the university a candidate had to have a score of 100 points with minorities receiving automatic 20 points (Gratz v. Bollinger 12). In 2003, The Supreme Court ruled University of Michigan’s affirmative action policy unconstitutional. Chief Justice Rehnquist, wrote the University's point system “ensures that the diversity contributions of applicants cannot be individually assessed" (GRATZ V. BOLLINGER 3). Grutter v. Bollinger, was the 2003 case where the Supreme Court upheld the University of Michigan Law School’s affirmative action policy. Barbara Grutter, who was rejected from the school, filed the suit believing that she had been discriminated against because of her race. In a five-to-four majority, the Supreme Court ruled that the law school could use race as a factor without violating the 14th Amendment. Justice O'Connor, wrote that the Constitution "does not prohibit the law school's narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body" (GRUTTER V. BOLLINGER 2).In 2006, Proposal 2 also known as the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative was passed which means Affirmative Action was banned from all public institutions. The constitutionality of the amendment was challenged in federal court leading to the case, Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court’s decision in 2014 upheld Proposal 2 saying "that there is no authority...for the judiciary to set aside Michigan laws that commit to the voters the determination whether

In 1971, the Department of Labor under Richard Nixon issued an order requiring all federal contractors to develop "an acceptable affirmative action program," including "an analysis of areas within which the contractor is deficient in the utilization of minority groups and women, and further, goals and timetables to which the contractor's good faith efforts must be directed to correct the deficiencies." (3) By now, affirmative action goals had become the full-fledged policy of U.S. government contracting.

Affirmative action is necessary in schools and colleges and needs to be continued. Our society is growing ever more diverse today. We need to give everyone a chance.

Affirmative Action is defined by Webster's New World College Dictionary as " a policy or program for correcting the effects of discrimination in the employment or education of members of certain groups." The phrase "affirmative action" was coined by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 when he issued Executive Order 10925, initiating the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order 11246. This order required federal contractors to take "affirmative action" to increase the number of minorities that they employed. Thus affirmative action was born. However, when Kennedy and Johnson established affirmative action, they did not intend for it to have the perverted and distorted

The civil rights movement proposed the “Equal Protection Clause” and became the 14th amendment in 1955(Wikipedia). This policy defended black people from discrimination in any current day encounters affiliated to education and employment. President Kennedy signed this law, and was the first to label this policy as affirmative action in 1961. Afterwards next president Lyndon B. Johnson took upon affirmative action into his own hands. Johnson 's executive order stated that affirmative action, “prevented discrimination based off skin color, race, and religion by places that were given federal contracts and subcontracts”(Affirmative Action). Johnson’s speech played a major factor by giving a concrete definition to affirmative action.

All across America, universities have been denying highly qualified applicants to accept minorities who are usually less qualified. These admissions processes misuse the basic principle of affirmative action. Affirmative action is a mandate that says that minorities should be given special opportunities. In 1952, when President D.W. Eisenhower was in office, he decided to let the states decide whether or not to use affirmative action (Affirmative Action). Eleven years later, when John F. Kennedy was president, he made it mandatory for all government funded organizations to enforce affirmative action. In theory Kennedy’s mandate also applies to all public universities even though it was not directly stated. A study taken in 2009 by Princeton sociologists shows that of the students with a 3.2-3.39 GPA applied to medical school, “Asian Americans had an acceptance rate of 7.7%, while African Americans had a 67.3% acceptance rate” (Espenshade, Radford). While this supports minorities, 1st and 2nd generation Asian Americans are often left with the worst disadvantage. This clearly shows that Kennedy’s mandate is too strong to regulate the nation’s education system. The best way to enforce affirmative action is to set new guidelines that are more fair and equitable for all and to charge a large fee for universities caught infringing upon it. This will not only solve the discrimination in the admissions process, but also

The term “affirmative action” was coined by John F. Kennedy during the African-American civil rights movement. Through affirmative action, Kennedy’s goal was to establish racial diversity in the government’s workforce that most closely resembled the proportions of the various ethnic groups in America. After Kennedy was assassinated, due to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, organizations outside of the government started to carry out affirmative action. Title VI outlawed any kind of discrimination in federal programs or government-funded events. Title VII built on Title VI to include that, in certain conditions, religion, sex, and national origin can be considered in hiring a candidate. Title VII was the first to address employment equity