Next Tuesday, Nebraska will vote on whether to keep or get rid of race, gender and ethnicity-based affirmative action.
If passed, Initiative 424 will change the Nebraska Constitution to eliminate all affirmative action practices based on race, gender and ethnicity.
For the University of Nebraska, this means race, gender and ethnicity would not be considered for scholarships and recruitment, although race is not taken into consideration for undergraduate admission at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
In 2007-2008, 309 UNL undergraduates received scholarships that used race, ethnicity, gender or income as a factor, but not the only factor.
Affirmative action began with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Lawmakers envisioned it as a temporary measure to promote race and gender equality in educational settings and the workplace. After 44 years, all but three states have affirmative action programs.
California, Michigan and Washington have already dismantled affirmative action programs.
David Kramer, campaign manager for Nebraskans United, an organization opposed to the ban, said affirmative action programs are needed because discrimination still exists.
"We need to open the doors for people who have never been able to knock at the door," Kramer said. "In the five months I've been working with this proposal, not many people from Nebraska have been in favor."
Kramer said 95 percent of funding for Initiative 424 came from out-of-state interests, including California's Civil Rights Initiative, headed by businessman Ward Connerly.
In 1978, affirmative action was challenged for the first time in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. Allan Bakke, a white male, claimed the school practiced "reverse discrimination" during his admission process. The court ruled in favor of the university and deemed affirmative action programs constitutional, but a quota system based on race as unconstitutional.
Since then, affirmative action has been challenged numerous times.
In 2003, a white student said the University of Michigan denied her enrollment because of her race and the courts ruled against the university.
The UNL College of Law came under fire this month when an Oct. 8 Center for Equal Opportunity study said the school used a discriminatory admissions process. The study claimed that during the 2006 and 2007 admissions process, black students were favored over white students 442 to one.
In an editorial on the school's Web site, Steven Willborn, dean of the UNL law school, said the study was a "politically motivated hatchet job."
Roger Clegg, president and general counsel for CEO, said there was nothing misleading about the study and that Willborn "doesn't know what he's talking about."
"It was politically motivated in a sense that we thought it was important for Nebraska voters to know the extent that the Nebraska law school was discriminating," Clegg said.
In the editorial, Willborn said the school uses the LSAT and a variety of factors in determining whom to admit to the law school.
Having diverse voices in the classroom leads to a quality education, he said.
"We can better discuss foreign affairs in our classrooms if they contain students who have lived in other countries; we can better discuss sports law if former college athletes are in the classroom; we can discuss agricultural policy better if we have students from rural Nebraska; and we can better discuss alleged race-based police practices if African Americans are in the room," Willborn said.
Clegg translated this comment to state that, "Willborn admits the law school engages in racial discrimination admissions."
While affirmative action laws are being questioned in Nebraska, other sources have questioned the validity of Initiative 424. UNL senior Jeff Hall and Eva Sohl, a 2008 graduate, filed a lawsuit on Sept. 11 challenging the validity of 40,000 petition signatures. Judge Karen Flowers has yet to declare her verdict.
"Now it's up to Nebraskans to decide if they want affirmative action," Clegg said.
alissaskelton@dailynebraskan.com
For more information about the Center for Equal Opportunity study: http://www.ceousa.org/content/view/627/119/
To read Dean Willborn's editorial: http://law.unl.edu/home
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