Supreme Court Hears Argument in Affirmative Action Case

All eyes are on the U.S. Supreme Court today as it hears oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin – a case involving the University of Texas' efforts to promote diversity and increase educational opportunity by considering an applicant's race as a part of the admissions process.

In August, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, along with 65 other members of Congress, filed an amicus brief in support of the Texas policy, arguing that diversity policies not only ensure fuller participation by all populations in the life of the nation but have proven to increase the effectiveness of a wide array of government programs and agencies. Diversity considerations have played important roles in the selection of our military leadership, the selection of leaders of Executive Branch agencies, and the selection of federal and state judges.  And in education, diversity not only helps provide for equal educational opportunities for all American students – it increases the quality of that education for everyone.  The amicus brief explains how the Texas policy in particular is fair and constitutional.

If the Court sides with Fisher, against the University, our nation's colleges could become much less diverse – erasing 50 years of progress and threatening major long-term consequences in the economic and social life of the country.  The President set a goal that the United States once again reach the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.  We cannot reach that goal without ensuring that all of our students, majority and minority, have the opportunity to succeed.