Analysis: Hamacher was denied admission as a freshman applicant, but would have been admitted if he was a member of an underrepresented minority applicant. Hamacher was able and ready to apply as a transfer student, which gave him standing to seek prospective relief. Therefore, Hamacher had standing to bring the suit, both as a student who was denied admission as a freshman, and as a student seeking admission as a transfer student. While the Bakke decision make it clear that diversity can constitute a compelling state interest, the automatic distribution of one-fifth of the points needed to guarantee admission to every underrepresented minority, simply because of race, is not narrowly tailored to achieve educational diversity. Instead, that system amounts to a quota system, and quota systems are not considered permissible. Instead of establishing quotas, universities need to establish admissions guidelines whereby every applicant can be considered as an individual. However, race can be a part of each individual's consideration. While the Court found that the old undergraduate admission guidelines violated the nature and spirit of Bakke, they did not have similar problems with the Law School's policies. Instead, the Court believed that the Law School did have a legitimate interest in obtaining a critical mass of minority students. This was due to the fact that future lawyers needed to have exposure to minorities to understand diversity, so that diversity was an important element for the entire student body, not just for minority students who would be admitted as the result of race considerations.
Conclusion: In Gratz, the Court granted the University's motion for summary judgment in respect to its current admissions guidelines. However, the Court found that the University's...
Respondents challenged that the LSA has just such an interest in the educational benefits that result from having a racially and ethnically diverse student body and that its program is narrowly tailored to serve that interest. The court ruled for the respondents as to the LSA's current admissions guidelines and granted them summary judgment in that respect. The court also held that the LSA's admissions guidelines for 1995 through
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With this ruling the Court upheld legality of affirmative action. In considering the reasoning behind the Court's upholding of the highly debated principle, the rationale was that to remedy past discrimination, a program that is race-based must be put into effect. Clearly, the Court was concerned with becoming intertwined in the daily administration of academic programs, and the same would have likely held true for the workplace. The Bakke case had
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Perception of Racism and Colour Students Historically, ethnic minorities are at a disadvantage in comparison to their White counterparts in real society. Living in poverty also plays a role in being considered a disadvantaged individual. According to Boyle (2008) and the 2006 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, 25.3% Black/African-Americans, 21.5% Hispanics, and26.6% Native Americans and Native Alaskans live under the poverty line (Boyle 2008).In comparison, 10% of Whites and Asians
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