University Prepares Supreme Court Brief

Twenty-five years after its brief played a pivotal role in the landmark Bakke case, Harvard may again become a leading player in the affirmative action debate, inviting other universities to sign onto a brief it is preparing for the Supreme Court.

The court will hear arguments this spring in a pair of cases against the University of Michigan that challenge its undergraduate and law school admissions policies.

Harvard is still drafting its friend-of-the-court brief, according to University officials, who declined to comment further on the details of the brief.

One administrative source said, however, that the University will write a brief defending the use of race as a factor in admissions, and invite other universities to join as signatories.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported this week that Harvard’s invitation would likely go out to Stanford and several Ivy League schools.

Last week, Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman told the Daily Princetonian that it would join a Harvard brief if invited. Yale university officials have also said that Yale plans to file a brief and invite other universities to join.

The case will mark the first time since the 1978 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke case that the Supreme Court has ruled on affirmative action in University admissions policies.

In that case, Harvard filed a friend- of-the-court brief detailing the Harvard plan, which considers race as one of many factors when looking at a candidate’s application.

The court prohibited the use of quotas in admissions but upheld some forms of affirmative action, citing Harvard College’s admission policy as a model.

Since Bakke, the University has been a consistent advocate of affirmative action.

Former University President Neil L. Rudenstine publicly criticized the1996 ruling of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case Hopwood v. Texas, which forbid the University of Texas from using race as a factor in law school admissions, with a statement to the University community.

Rudenstine organized a statement on diversity signed by members of theAssociation of American Universities and published in The New York Times in April 1997. He was honored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People that year for his efforts.

In 1998, Rudenstine’s predecessor Derek C. Bok coauthored The Shape of the River, a seminal work on the benefits of using race in admissions decisions.

Briefs opposing Michigan’s admissions policies were due Jan. 16.

A week before the deadline, the leaders of 34 higher education associations sent a letter to President George W. Bush, requesting his support of Michigan’s admissions policy.

Signatories of the letter included several organizations to which Harvard belongs, including the Association of American Colleges and the Association of American Law Schools.

The Bush administration, however, filed briefs against the University of Michigan, arguing that the Court should declare the policy unconstitutional without reversing the Bakke decision.University spokesperson Lucie McNeil said Harvard’s brief will be filed by the Feb. 18 deadline for briefs supporting the use of race as a factor in admissions decisions.

Michigan currently uses a point system to determine undergraduate admission, and awards 20 additional points to minority students.

The law school there, however, does not use a point system, but takes race and ethnicity into account in admissions descisions.

—Staff writer Jenifer L. Steinhardt can be reached at steinhar@fas.harvard.edu.